


Let Me Hear You Say

by wonhoshly



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Crush, Crush at First Sight, First Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, I'm a sucker for high-school romance, Light Angst, M/M, New Student Jeong Yunho, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shy Kang Yeosang, Yunsang Nation Rise, yunsang - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23380660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonhoshly/pseuds/wonhoshly
Summary: Jeong Yunho is a new kid in town. Kang Yeosang is either cold or shy.6 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 + 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 + 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 (𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧)
Relationships: Jeong Yunho/Kang Yeosang
Comments: 100
Kudos: 106





	1. One.

**Author's Note:**

> This is self-indulgence and I made this for fun and out of boredom. And I love Yunsang!
> 
> [Title: Seventeen - Let Me Hear You Say]

Transferring to a new school should be something that a  19 year old would look forward to. Sadly, not for a certain  Jeong Yunho. He had to move in to a bigger city than the smaller one he had spent his 18 years of life in. His father was promoted as a manager and his mother’s application of transfer to another hospital somewhat was approved easily too. Which resulted in both  Yunho and his younger brother  Gunho to transfer too. 

He was sad to leave his friends behind. Not just his friends, his teachers, his neighbors who went to a different school but were still his playmates, the grandmother who sold  _ dalgona _ __ candy on his way to school and even the cat that hissed at him every single time he walked past it. He hates to leave that beautiful, serene small town but he had to. 

And here he is now, standing in front of the door of his new classroom. The homeroom teacher had told him to go first and he regretted that.  _ Should’ve just waited for him. This is  _ _ gonna _ _ be awkward.  _ He was about to grab the handle of the sliding door when the voice of the said teacher broke his trance. 

“Oi! New kid! Why aren’t you in yet?” The teacher who oddly had a silver hair yelled at  Yunho. 

“Ahh. I was just about to go in.” The new student answered sheepishly.

“Let’s go now. I’ll introduce you to everyone.” The teacher added as he harshly slam opened the sliding door and walked inside, leaving  Yunho almost traumatized by the teacher’s power. “Alright, alright now. Good morning my beloved students.  _ You!  _ Stop staring outside the window.” He started as he mindlessly pointing everyone in the room with his attendance book. “I’ve got some new stuff for you today. And he’s with- Hey! What are you doing, kid? Come in!” He beckoned at the new kid. 

“Uh- yes.”  Yunho timidly walked in to the classroom with his head lowered to avoid everyone’s curious gaze. Although he had his head lowered, he knew, he just  _ knew  _ that people were indeed staring at him as he stood next to the homeroom teacher on the mini podium of the classroom.

“Our new friend here has arrived today. Did I tell you about this? I didn’t. Didn’t I?” He laughed out loud at his own antics as the mumbling sounds of the students were heard from the floor. “I see everyone’s in today  _ aaaannddd _ my time is up. I need everyone to be nice to our new friend here. He’s going to introduce himself after this. I  ain’t involving myself in your lame teenager conversation. Now, adieu!” 

The teacher left before  Yunho could say anything and now he is left standing alone on the podium. He had his head held up high now. Everyone looked so small to him — well,  Yunho was big but everyone was just a tad smaller to his nervous eyes. 

  
“Hey! What’s your name, tall guy?” Asked a voice from the back of the classroom. “I’m Mingi. Song Mingi. The class rep that no one knew they ever needed.” A series of ‘shut up Mingi. Let him talk.’ clearly resonated in the classroom.

  
_Shit. This is awkward. I haven’t introduced myself yet and they- hold up!_ Yunho’s internal monologue was brought to an abrupt stop when he caught a pair of eyes that were just somewhat blankly staring at him. Shivers ran down his spine because _oh god, he’s cute._

  
_Bang!_ The sound of the table in front of him being slammed hard startled Yunho and he is faced with a boy who was about his height that he knew is called Mingi just now. 

  
“ _Name_ , buddy! We need a name!” Mingi asked him with his long, slender fingers waving right in front of Yunho’s face. 

  
“Ah! _Ah!_ Hi. Hello! I’m JeongYunho. I know it’s weird that I’m transferring almost into the second half of our third year, but I hope we can all be friends.” Finally. The long-awaited ice breaking. “Nice to meet everyone.” He added again with a tiny wave. 

  
“The name’s Yunho everyone! Welcome, Yunho! Welcome to our class where the fun never ends!” Mingi yelled out loud as he repeatedly hit Yunho’s back but immediately stopping his action as the new kid gave him a glare. “Sorry. Sorry. I got excited. But anyway, let’s find you a seat. Hmm. Let’s see who do we-“

  
Without waiting for Mingi who was stroking his nonexistent beard to finish his sentence, Yunho impulsively made his move to walk towards the back of the class. Specifically towards the cute boy who happened to be sitting on his own, with no seat-mate at the back of the class, near the window. He stood in front of the empty table quietly and stared at the boy who was looking up at him but diverted his eyes immediately to stare at whatever that was outside the window. Yunho let out a soft smile and turned to look at Mingi who was still patiently waiting for him to settle down in front of the class. The class rep raised his eyebrows in confusion, demanding an explanation from Yunho. 

  
“Here. I’m sitting here.” Yunho softly said as he untangled himself from his sling bag and took a seat next to the boy. The boy, who Yunho was sure is a lot smaller than himself was still giving him his back, not sparing him a look. 

  
The sound of the bell, signaling the start of the day calmed Yunho down. He watched as Mingi was saying some stuffs that he was not able to relate to, and how the loud boy turned quiet the moment the teacher for the first period walked in. _He’s loud but at least he’s got manners._

  
Throughout the first period, Yunho was curious about his seat-mate. He knew his name now as he secretly peeked at his text book that they were sharing. It was Yeosang. Kang Yeosang. Sounds nice, Yunho had thought. He also noticed how Yeosang does not seem like a kid who interacted or said much about things. This was obvious because when the teacher had asked the floor questions, Yeosang remained unbothered and was just staring at the blackboard. From time to time, the taller can see that he was writing down what the teacher said but throughout that three hours of the first period, not once did he glance at Yunho. Even when he offered Yunho to share the textbook, he did not say anything — all he did was softly nudged Yunho on his elbow and slowly pushed the textbook to the middle of their connected table. _That was cute though._ The struggle to not coo at him was hard.

  
The bell rang again when lunch time arrives. Yunho was not looking forward to it because one — he did not know who to eat lunch with. Two. He was not feeling hungry which was weird to himself. Three. He forgot his wallet and he had just realized about it into the second hour of the first period. He could have noticed it if he was using the bus, but it was his first day so his father drove him to the new school. Hence, the late realization of his forgotten wallet. 

  
“No lunch for you?” The sound of Mingi’s deep voice made Yunho snapped his head up. “Cafeteria?” 

  
“Uh. I brought lunch box. We can eat in the classroom, right?” He lied. There was no lunchbox and he was just asking for cover up. 

  
“Of course, you can. You need anything from the snack bar? I can buy them for you. _Only_ if you promise to pay me back.” The class rep had offered with an unnecessarily flirty wink. 

  
“No. It’s fine. I can buy them myself if I want. Thanks though.” Yunho politely declined and watched as Mingi left the classroom with a shorter boy who Yunho was sure he saw blonde highlights on his hair but he decided to abandon the matter and turned to look at the cute boy - no, Yeosang and boy did it catch him off guard because as he turned, his eyes landed directly on Yeosang’s beautiful ones. Just a second after that, the shorter once again avoided Yunho’s eyes.

  
_Wait- he was looking at me just now. Did he_ _wanna_ _say something?_

  
The taller looked around at the almost empty classroom. Two girls who were talking with each other waved Yunho a good bye and now, the classroom was indeed empty safe for the two boys left. 

  
Yunho then turned again to look at Yeosang. The smaller already had his lunchbox on his table but weirdly, he was not eating and was just fidgeting with the lid of his unopened lunchbox box, which intrigued Yunho to stare at the other more. He crossed his arms over his chest, thinking hard on how to start a conversation with the intriguing boy sitting next to him. 

  
“Why aren’t you eating?” Yeosang’s voice cracked the silence between the two. 

  
Yunho shot his head up and turned to look at the owner of the smooth voice. 

  
Their eyes met, and this time Yunho was glad that Yeosang did not try to avoid his eyes anymore. 

  
“Why aren’t _you_ eating? You’re the one with the lunchbox here.” The taller answered with another question as he jerked his head towards the lunchbox.

  
“Well, it’s uncomfortable to have you here. I’m usually alone during breaks.” Said Yeosang flatly. “Go eat somewhere else. The classroom is mine for the first ten minutes of the break.” He added with an obvious _get lost_ in his tone. 

  
Yunho still had his arms crossed over his chest. _He can barely look at me in the eyes and yet he had the audacity to tell me to leave?_ “Well, pretty boy. Too bad, the classroom is a public property so I can stay here whenever I want. Plus, I’m new here so I don’t know where to go.” The elder added as he unfolds his arms and turned his body to fully confront Yeosang. 

  
“You could’ve said yes to Mingi just now. He was basically saying to show you around, in case you didn’t see his points.” Yeosang jabbed as he rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed at Yunho’s presence. “Next time, learn to read between the lines.” He might have said all those things, but at this moment, Yeosang already had his eyes on his lunchbox again. Not sparing the taller a glance anymore. 

  
“Well, maybe you should remind me next time. You’re so petty and so unwelcoming of me. What’s your problem?” The taller murmured as he turned to face the front again. He briefly peeked at the new sound next to him — the sound of a lunchbox being opened. Being all sulky at Yeosang suddenly made him hungry, but with his wallet left at home, he did not really want to leave a bad impression by borrowing his new classmates’ money. So that was why he turned down Mingi’s offer and lied about the lunchbox. He never carried a lunchbox before too, anyway.

  
The clattering sound of a spoon dropping to the floor brought Yunho out of his cloud of thoughts. He watched as Yeosang picked up his spoon from the floor and how he placed his spoon onto the lunchbox lid. He noticed how the shorter seemed a bit troubled as he rummaged through his blazer pockets, pants pockets and even his backpack. A thought came to Yunho’s mind. He probably needed something to wipe his dirtied spoon. _Does he not know about the 3 seconds rule?_ The taller wondered but the next thing he did was something that surprised himself. 

  
Yunho took his handkerchief out from his pocket and at the same time, he took Yeosang’s spoon from the lid. Then he just quietly wiped the dirt off from the spoon with his handkerchief. 

  
Yeosang shot his head up at Yunho’s actions. Words cannot come out of his mouth as to how shocked he had become seeing what Yunho just did to his spoon. “Wh\- what are you doing?” 

  
The taller gave back the spoon to the owner when he deemed the spoon is clean enough. “It’s dirty. So I helped you to clean it because- umm- you don’t seem like you have anything to wipe it off with, so-“

  
“It’s dirty.” Yeosang cut the taller off. 

  
“Because you dropped it. Of course, it’s dirty.” 

  
“No. I mean your handkerchief.” 

  
“Oh. I can just wash it at home.” _Is this like in a drama where the girl would offer to wash it for me._ He internally grinned to the thought of Yeosang washing his handkerchief. 

  
“Yeah. You should. I didn’t ask you to wipe it anyway, so-“ The shorter replied with a shrug and continued eating his lunch. 

  
Yunho’s jaw dropped the moment he heard Yeosang’s verdict. “Of course, I will wash it _myself.”_ The elder mumbled sulkily. His sulking was only for a moment when he saw Yeosang continued eating deliciously. _He eats well for his size._

  
When Yeosang had finish his lunch, he gulped his drink from his tumbler while he had his eyes at the direction of the door, watching his classmates coming in from wherever they were from before. He glanced at Yunho who was just smiling at whoever it was, he was not sure of. And then took his sweet time in cleaning his desk by keeping his lunchbox into his desk drawer and placing his tumbler at the corner of his desk. He was about to get up from his seat to go to the washroom when he remembered he had brought something else from home. It was a meat bun that his mother forcefully stuffed into his backpack when he was tying his shoelaces. With the meat bun in his hands now, he thought of the taller sitting next to him who was weirdly kind enough to help him clean his spoon earlier on. 

Yeosang roused from his chair so hastily that it made a screeching sound and looked down at a startled Yunho who is now looking up at him too. “Hey. Take this”, was all that he said after throwing the meat bun straight into  Yunho’s chest and speed walked to leave the dumbfounded boy alone. He walked past a grinning  Mingi who had just arrived at the back door and shut the class rep with a death glare immediately before he could say anything. 

  
Meanwhile, Yunho who was still trying to grasp the situation had his eyes back and forth on the door and the meat bun in his hands. He smiled fondly at the meat bun. “You’re welcome, I guess.” 

  
“Ooh. I see you got something from Kang Yeosang. It’s a very rare occasion, you know?” Mingi teased the new student as he took a seat in front of Yunho. “Dude was not that friendly to everyone but I know deep down he’s a nice kid.” He added as he poked his straw through his banana milk furiously.

“Yeah? How long have you known him?”  Yunho wondered loudly as he unwrapped his meat bun, excited to have his little lunch.

  
“ _Know_ him? Pfft. He was my first love.” Mingi blurted out flatly. 

  
Upon hearing that, Yunho almost choked on his meat bun and it surprised the other so much that he impulsively shoved his banana milk into Yunho’s mouth - which made the straw poking into Yunho’s roof of mouth. He then literally inhaled the milk in one ago hoping that it will soothe his blocked airway. After a few seconds, when he felt he is breathing fine, he stared into Mingi’s eyes for clarification. 

  
“Your first love?” Yunho probed hoarsely. 

  
“Yeah. And I was his Prince Charming too.” 

  
“You were his _what_?!” 

  
“Hey, Yeosang. Been missing my Snow White. What’s up?” The class representative casually ignored Yunho and paid attention to Yeosang who just came from the washroom. “Where art thou?” 

  
“That’s Juliet, idiot.” The shortest of them rolled his eyes and slumped himself onto his chair. 

  
“Oh. It rhymes. You can be a rapper.” Mingi teased him more ignoring the curious stare from Yunho and only deciding to pay attention at him when Yeosang did not seem to be interested at them at all. “Okay. What do you wanna know about us?” 

  
“You said he’s your first love.” Why he was whispering, Yunho had no idea but probably in his subconscious mind, he thought this might be a sensitive issue. 

  
“Yeah. And we kissed. Right, Yeosang?” Mingi beamed cheerfully, ignoring Yunho’s effort to lay low. 

  
“ _You_ kissed me - on my cheek. Don’t use we.” Yeosang replied with another glare. Knowing Mingi, he knew this Snow White reminiscences will never come to an end. 

  
“Kissed Snow White? I thought it was Aurora that received a kiss.” Yunho interrupted the two and was oddly relieved when Yeosang seemingly to be telling a less exaggerated story.

  
“Aurora had her own fair share of a Prince Charming’s kiss and so did Snow White, moron. She ate the apple, remember? Then Prince, aka me, came to save him, with a kiss. On his cheek. Chu!” Mingi, who played the Prince explained exasperatedly with his kissy face.

  
“Right.” Yunho muttered under his breath. _But wait-_ “Why is he Snow White then?” 

  
“Uh. Because he’s the fairest of all? Duh. Look at him.” The taller scoffed at the obvious question. 

  
Yunho turned to look at Yeosang who somewhat is seating facing him too. He noticed that Yeosang has a birthmark under his left eye and if he looks closer, there was a tint of red painting his cheek. _Is he blushing?_ He wanted to ask for more but this time, his conscience is telling him Yeosang probably does not want to talk about it — especially when it obviously, possibly involving him in crossdressing as Snow White. 

“The girls mostly voted for him. We went with the majority of the votes and everyone has to be involved because it was a competition and tell you what? We won!”  Mingi roared as he noticed the sorry look  Yunho had on  Yeosang . “It was all good.” 

  
“Was it good for you, though? Yeosang?” Yunho prodded softly at the shorter who was leaning against the window sill, facing the two tall boys.

  
“What do you mean? It was just a play. And like Mingi said, we won. The whole class get to eat specially cooked lunch for a month and we got some cash too. That was all that mattered. Plus, we had fun.” Yeosang explained, verifying Mingi’s story. 

  
“Good then. I was just-“

  
“Just what? Thought we forced him?” Mingi cut Yunho off when he noticed the other boy’s solemn tone. “We’re not bullies, okay? We’re a democratic group of people. Geez. You have a soft heart for your size. Your height doesn’t suit you. Give it to Yeosang. He might need it.” He joked and got up from the chair across Yunho to go back to his place. 

  
“You’re dramatic”, was all that Yeosang said when Yunho turned to look at him again. 

  
“How would I know? He should’ve fixed his storytelling skills and maybe stop saying things vaguely?” Yunho whined and rubbed his face, embarrassed of himself. He really does have a soft spot for a small, pocket sized boy like Yeosang. 

  
Throughout the second half of the day, Yunho was relieved that Yeosang was less cold than he was earlier. He would like to think that probably because the younger was hungry that he was being all quiet. He asked him a few questions and was glad that Yeosang did not leave him hanging or left some blunt remarks — he even shared another textbook with Yunho until the day is over. 

***

“Where do you live?” Another classmate,  Yunho knew as San had asked. He was almost  Yeosang’s height, maybe higher, maybe shorter – so another pocket sized boy but not his type. 

  
“At XX Apartment. Why?” Yunho replied without looking up while he was copying tomorrow’s timetable from Yeosang’s notebook. 

  
“Oh. Yeosang lives there too!” San exclaimed, clapping his hands like a seal. “Maybe the two of you can-“

  
“Shut up. We can’t. Are you done? I’m leaving now.” Yeosang chimed in with his finger tapping on Yunho’s table. 

  
“Yeosang is so mean. San is hurt. Tsk tsk.” San lamented before storming off towards the door where Mingi was waiting for him.

  
“Whatever. Dude, are you done?” The shorter asked again. 

  
“Right, right. I’m done. I can just go to your place though if I’m not done. San said we lived at the same apartment.” The taller replied as he slung his bag over his shoulder after he finished stuffing his belongings into his bag.

  
“We _do_ but you’re done now so-“

  
“Let’s walk home together. Show me the way.” Yunho suggested with a smile never leaving his face. 

  
“Go home on your own. Why should I walk with you?” Yeosang retorted. He glanced at the classroom. Some of the students are probably staying late for a group discussion. 

  
“Eyy. Come on. I have so many things I wanna ask about this school, about this place. _” About you._ The elder remarked with his eyebrows wiggled flirtatiously. 

  
“Hmm.” The younger hummed an approval and not saying more when Yunho started to follow his steps. 

***   


“Which block are you?”  Yunho had asked while looking around when they arrived at their apartment complex. They had awkwardly and quietly walked their way home and when they arrived, there were kids playing at the playground when they walked past it. 

  
“Not telling you.” The shorter sassed and was about to take another step when he felt his hand was suddenly grabbed from behind that made him slightly pulled backwards. He turned around to see the tall boy nonchalantly grabbing his left wrist with a bit of strength exerted in his hold. He stared at their connected hands and he can feel his face is burning hot from the strong hold. 

  
“Come on. You won’t even talk to me when we walked. Now at least, tell me. Which block is it?” The taller probed again, not noticing the troubled look on Yeosang’s face. _Why is it so hard for him to talk?_ He thought to himself.

  
“...go.” The younger mumbled softly. 

  
“What?” 

  
“Let me go!” Yeosang’s outburst did not just surprise Yunho, but it surprised himself and the kids at the playground too. He can feel that eyes were on him and the only thing that he can think of right now is to dash off his way home. He refused to look back at Yunho who was calling his name repeatedly. As he arrived at his place, he walked past his mother after quickly nodding his head to greet her. 

  
As soon as he walked in to his room, he ran to the window and stared down of the building. From where he is standing in his room, he can see that Yunho was still at the apartment complex, sitting on a bench. And suddenly his heart started to beat faster than it usually was. It could be because he just ran his way up to the 8th level of his apartment or because of a new boy who he had met by chance a week ago - who also held his hand minutes ago. _This can’t be it. This is all too sudden for me. This is bad._

***


	2. Two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Yunho and Yeosang got a mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to write something like Yunho is totally whipped for Yeosang. 
> 
> ˢᵒ ⁱ ᵗʳⁱᵉᵈ ʷʳⁱᵗⁱⁿᵍ ᵃ ʲᵉᵃˡᵒᵘˢ ʸᵘⁿʰᵒ
> 
> And again, this is purely for self-indulgence.

_A week before._

It was a sunny Sunday evening when Yeosang was skateboarding around his apartment complex. He was waiting for his family who left him for grocery shopping and some weekend errands. His mother did wake him up but he groggily said “another five minutes” and the next thing he knew it was almost 5 in the evening. So now he is left waiting for his parents and his older sister to arrive with food and sweets that he knew his family would spoil him with. 

The sound of a truck coming in to the apartment complex made Yeosang stopped skateboarding immediately. _Hm? A moving truck?_ The name written on the truck that says moving services was a clear indication that someone is moving in to the apartment. He watched for some more until there was another SUV driving in and stopped right next to the truck. 

He watched as the drivers of the truck and SUV were discussing something and pointing at a block next to his that Yeosang deemed could be the apartment that they will move in to. After a moment, he saw a lady around his mother’s age coming out of the SUV and concluding that must be the wife. He smiled softly as he picked his skateboard up and thinking his mother would be meeting a new neighbour since she is involved in the neighbourhood committee members. 

He was imagining his mother’s enthusiasm so hard that he almost missed the sight of a tall boy piggybacking what seems like another sleeping younger boy on his back. Yeosang unknowingly let out a fond smile thinking how his sister used to piggyback him too back then. He observed the tall boy and thinking _he looks around my age. I wonder if he is and if he is, would he be going to my school too?_

The soft slap on Yeosang’s back brought him out of his cloud of thoughts. He was so surprised that he dropped his skateboard and turned to see his parents and sister were all laughing at him for being surprised. 

“You look funny when you’re startled.” His father remarked jokingly. 

“It’s because you hit me so hard.” Yeosang retorted shyly. 

“Now, now. Let’s go home. We’ve got your favourite desserts and sweets. No more any of these if you don’t wake up for grocery shopping and errands next time.” His mother interrupted them with a soft warning. 

Yeosang’s parents and sister then made their way to their apartment block, leaving Yeosang who is yet to pick his skateboard up and when he did, he softly patted it while one-sidedly murmuring “Sorry I dropped you.” He then made a small run yelling “Wait for me!” into his block and totally missing out a pair of eyes watching him with a smile on his face. 

***

The next morning, Yeosang woke up with a mission. He has decided to ignore the new boy, Jeong Yunho. He told himself, today Yunho will probably get all his own textbooks and other books from the school so he would not have to share and communicate with Yunho. The walk from school yesterday was already a torture – he was internally sighing all the time thinking how things would have been nice if he is not awkward and shy to people around him. He wanted to talk to Yunho but words just would not come out and he was sure it was the same for Yunho. And the fact that Yunho held his hand yesterday is making things worse. He would like to think that probably Yunho was huge - almost looking like a bear - that made him intimidated by Yunho’s presence or it was because Yunho was a bit too friendly and maybe good looking that made his heart almost jumped out of his chest. 

The _ping!_ sound of the elevator reaching the ground floor startled Yeosang and he was even more startled when he saw Yunho was standing outside of the elevator. 

“Good morning!” The taller greeted cheerfully the moment his eyes met Yeosang’s. “What’s up?” 

Yunho standing outside of the elevator almost make Yeosang choked on air. He almost missed his timing to hop off the elevator if it was not for Yunho rushing to repeatedly tap on the going up button outside the elevator to keep the door opened.

“How do you know which block I live in?” Yeosang started as they walked side by side towards the main gate. 

“I saw where you ran to yesterday.” _And I saw you first a week ago._ “I mean, it’s weird not to notice where your direction was. You’re easy to read.” The taller surmised. 

Yeosang let out a spontaneous “Pfft.” the moment he heard Yunho’s conclusion and he immediately covered his mouth when he suddenly remembered that he was not supposed to be talking to Yunho. So, he increased the speed in his walking, abandoning Yunho who is now puzzled because of Yeosang’s sudden change of pace. 

The taller then managed to catch up to the shorter’s speed and he immediately grabbed Yeosang’s hand making Yeosang abruptly stopped. “Do you hate me?” He asked the moment Yeosang glared at him for touching him. 

Yeosang looked around them and was thankful that the street is still void of people’s presence. “Let me go. Stop touching me, will you?” He tried to untangle himself from Yunho but the older was proven to be a bit too strong for Yeosang.

“Nope. No can do. Answer me first. Do you hate me? If you do, I’ll fix what I did wrong - not that I can think of any for the past 24 hours I have known you. And if you don’t, don’t avoid me and talk to me.” The taller proposed lengthily with his eyes remained on Yeosang’s confused ones. He watched as the morning breeze softly blowing away Yeosang’s hair that was covering his birthmark.

To that, Yeosang let out a sigh and stopped trying to escape himself from Yunho. _Damn it. I made my mission last night and I failed it immediately. What’s with the puppy face, anyway?_ “No. I don’t hate you.” He answered flatly.

“You’re lying. You hate me. I can’t read any amount of sincerity in your voice. Convince me that you don’t hate me. Try harder.” Yunho asserted firmly as he mindlessly shook their connected hands side to side and internally grateful Yeosang made no effort to release himself. 

“I don’t, _okay?_ I’m just-“ 

“You’re just what?” The taller cut Yeosang off. 

“It’s just that- It’s hard to talk.” The shorter murmured as he stared his hand in Yunho’s grip. 

“I can’t hear you.” Yunho complained. “Speak louder please, Kang Yeosang.” 

Yeosang rolled his eyes and tilted his head up to match Yunho’s eye level. Not that he could. “It’s just that- You’re tall and huge - like intimidating.” _Please don’t see through me. Please don’t see through me._ Whatever reason he has, Yeosang wishes to keep it to himself. He looked down again when he felt Yunho’s blank stare at him was too overbearing and let silence engulfed them both. 

After a beat or two, the taller suddenly started to laugh like there is no tomorrow and purposely held Yeosang’s hand harder. “Okay! Reason accepted. But I’m not intimidating I can tell you. You should look at my pictures when I was 8 or 9, then maybe you won’t think of me that way.” He explained in between his ragged breath after laughing so hard. 

Yeosang who could not find any humor in Yunho’s words continued to stare at the taller and shook his head after thinking that he had escaped Yunho’s scrutiny. “Now can you let me go? You’ve got my answer.” He tried again to untangle himself and this time, he succeeded and proceeded to massage his hand that has turned red. 

“I got the answer but not much.” Yunho paused for a moment and once again he took Yeosang’s hand into his. “I’m sorry.” He apologised as he tenderly blowing out air to soothe the redness. He shrugged when Yeosang pulled his hand away and started walking. 

“Well. At least I know you don’t hate me.” Yunho added as he too started walking next to Yeosang. He turned to look at the younger and they walked some more until they reached the school gateand soon after they are in front of their classroom. 

Before opening the door, Yeosang suddenly turned around to look at Yunho which made the older to stop and stare down at him. “You’re still intimidating to me but I don’t hate you. Thought you should at least know that.” The younger clarified and immediately leaving a dumbfounded Yunho. 

It took Yunho a moment to snap out of his daze - it actually took a certain annoyed Choi San to help him snap out of it. 

“Can tall people not stand in front of the door? It’s hurting my pride to say ‘excuse me’ because it’s not my fault that I can’t walk past this door.” San nagged as he made his way to his own seat.

As Yunho reached his place, he could not help but steals glances at Yeosang. He observed him more and it took him all of his strength to not coo at every single movement that Yeosang made. Never mind what people would think, but Yunho himself realized that he is being creepy when he thinks Yeosang taking out his pen out of his pencil case is cute and when the younger seems to contemplate should his tumbler goes to the right or left corner of his desk? - is cute to Yunho too. _Maybe it’s his size, or the adorably nonchalant small face that he has, but why does everything he does seems so tiny?_

What the younger said earlier gave him a hope. A hope that he can always get closer him. Yunho has decided on it. He _will_ close the gap between him and Yeosang - be it as friends and if possible, even more than friends.

***

It has been two weeks or more since Yunho transferred to his new school. Nothing much has progressed for him and Yeosang, unfortunately. They walked to school and home together but still not much that he can draw from Yeosang. If there is anything about Yeosang that he found out, it was either Choi San or Song Mingi that had told him. He knew Yeosang loves sweet food, how he has a best friend named Jung Wooyoung who went to an all-boys school and how Yeosang loves skating and flying drones - in which he notices about the skating when he first saw Yeosang when they moved in to the new apartment. So, not much about Yeosang that he can get from the boy himself.

And today is the day that Yunho and San are assigned on sweeping their classroom level’s hallway. He sighed heavily when he saw Yeosang is paired with Mingi. He tried to send signals to Mingi to exchange their partner but the class rep is proven to be ignorant to signals. Not that Yunho can blame him. And when San and him were done, the two lazily walked to their classroom after a long rant about how the floor seems dirtier when it is their turn. 

The moment the door is open, Yunho was welcome with a sight of Yeosang and Mingi sitting so closely that it seems like their faces were stuck on to each other. It seems like Mingi was asking Yeosang some questions regarding their homework, but Yunho could not recall if they actually _have_ homework. He watched them both as he made his way to his desk, after telling San it was a good work today. When Yeosang and Mingi did not seem to notice him, he decided to knock on his table - but when even a double knock on the table does not seem to do the magic, he realized he had enough of being unnoticed. 

Yunho then stealthily walked behind the two and purposely bumping his hip at Mingi’s slouched shoulder, making both Yeosang and Mingi looking up at him.

“Oh? Jeong Yunho? What’s wrong?” The class rep asked cluelessly. 

“Nothing. It’s just that you’re taking my seat.” Yunho replied with a fake nonchalance in his tone. 

“Oh. Right. I was just asking Yeosang some questions. Let me get up. We’re done anyway. And thanks Kang Yeosang. I’ll buy you chocolate cake next time.” Mingi explained quickly before getting up to leave Yunho and Yeosang who is grinning at the mention of a chocolate cake.

“What did you teach him?” The older probed the moment he sat on his chair. He turned his body to fully face the younger, with his one hand placed on the desk and the other resting on the back of Yeosang’s chair. 

“Yesterday’s homework. Mathematics.” The younger responded dryly without sparing Yunho a look. His hand seems to be mindlessly flipping through the pages of his book. 

“I see. You like chocolate cake that much, huh?” Yunho then purposely leaned in closer as he questioned the younger with jealousy lacing his tone. _I know he had known Mingi more than he knew me but-_

“You’re too close.” Yeosang’s warm hand landed on Yunho’s wondering face but Yunho made no effort to pan away and instead he leans in closer to the younger. 

“Hey! What are you doing? Get off me!” The younger whined when Yunho started to bump their foreheads together. Yeosang can sense that his face is burning up when he felt Yunho’s slender fingers lingering on the nape of his neck. “Hey! People are watching. Get off me.” He gritted his teeth as he had both of his hands on Yunho’s broad chest and he sighed in relief when Yunho _finally_ retreated. 

“What was that for?” Yeosang silently fumed. He fanned his face with his hand when he noticed the classroom’s attention is no longer on them.

“Nothing. I just want your attention.” Yunho explained flatly. “I’m sorry but you never seemed to pay attention to me.” The taller shrugged as he fixed his crooked necktie. _Yeosang has strong hands. I can still feel them on my chest._

“You could’ve just talked it out to me normally like a normal people would do.” The smaller retorted. Yunho’s words were so absurd that almost nothing he can think of right now. _Does he not know what has been bothering me since he arrived?_

“I’ve tried. But you would ignore me. Or you would only say a word but when you’re with Mingi or San or everyone, you’re talking just fine. At least you formed a sentence with them – and even sitting so close to them. But I’m new here, Yeosang. And I can’t get close to everyone just yet so I’m expecting more from you – what with us living so closely to each other. But I guess I expected a little bit too much.” The sound of the teacher for the afternoon’s period walking in made Yunho’s rant come to an abrupt stop. 

The older’s words left a mark in Yeosang’s heart. He did not mean to ignore Yunho but there is just something about his presence that makes Yeosang started to question his sanity. And just like Yunho himself, he wishes he can say more to Yunho. 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and constructive comments are very much welcome. Thank you and stay in!


	3. Three.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little progress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this with "If Without You" on repeat. That's my Yunsang ost.

The weekend that everyone is not looking forward to has arrived. The third-year students are about to have a day trip to their classes’ choice of educational attractions. Yunho’s class has decided to visit an observatory. There were complaints going about the classroom but when Mingi subtly threatened that maybe they can go to a temple instead, everyone reluctantly resorted to the observatory. 

At first, Yunho was very looking forward to his first ever class trip with his new classmates when the silver haired homeroom teacher made the announcement regarding the day trip. But after his little confrontation with Yeosang a few days ago, he had been feeling bad for the younger. He knew he had invaded Yeosang’s personal space so much because it is obvious the younger has been keeping a distance from him although they still walked to and from school together – with Yunho only quietly following Yeosang from behind. If before, Yeosang would at least answered Yunho’s questions with two words - 5 maximum - but now, all Yeosang did was nod or shake his head. At this rate, if he does not take a smart step, Yeosang might end up not saying anything to him at all until they graduate. And that shall be the last thing to happen to Jeong Yunho’s budding love at the first sight story. _I’m a man so I’m not afraid to admit that I like him._

And now while they are waiting to get on the bus, Yunho realized he had it hard right now because _why the hell does Song Mingi keeps on getting paired with my Yeosang?! This seat pairing arrangement is rigged._

“Arghh!” Yunho unknowingly screamed when he saw Yeosang’s small figure is standing next to a loud tall boy in front of him. He bowed apologetically when the silver haired teacher yelled at him for suddenly screaming. Amidst that, he caught Yeosang turning to look at him. His eyes could be playing with him, but Yunho was sure he saw Yeosang covering his mouth as if he was holding back his laughter - and now that he saw Mingi putting his unnecessarily long arm around Yeosang’s shoulder, he is sure he was indeed seeing things. _Damn it that Song Mingi._ He let out a heavy sigh when his mind told him he will be yelled at again if he makes another noise. 

“Dude. What’s wrong? It’s only- what- like your third or fourth week here and you’re already this tired of us?” The boy who is paired to sit with him had asked, with his eyes fixed on his phone. _And why am I always with San, anyway?_

“Choi San.” Yunho turned to look at the boy. “About Yeosang-”

“Okay, now! Boys and girls! Get on the bus! You can talk your hearts out on the bus later. This is the time for you to bond closer before you graduate. Especially, _you!_ New kid Jeong Yunho! I’m watching you.” The silver haired teacher instructed, cutting Yunho off from asking San about what (read: Yeosang) has been bothering him. 

“You heard the old man. Talk when we’re in the bus.” San suggested as he softly pushed Yunho to get on the bus to which the older just rolled his eyes as a protest. 

As Yunho got on the bus, he caught a glimpse of Yeosang who has already settled down at his window seat. Their eyes met and Yunho was internally grateful because Yeosang seems to be in a good mood as he did not avoid his apologetic gaze this time, but- 

“Yo! Jeong Yunho!” 

_Right. Song Mingi._

“Hey, Mingi. What’s up?” Yunho greeted flatly. _Ugh. Don’t block my Yeosang_.

“Nothing. Just saying hi. Now go to your seat. You’re blocking the way.” The class rep ordered sternly as he noticed the line behind Yunho. 

Once again, Yunho rolled his eyes. _The universe hates me._

***

The trip to the observatory was tentatively said to be around two and a half hours and now they are into the first half of the trip. The silver haired teacher then announced that they will be making a 30 minutes stop at a highway rest area. The students in the bus were cheering loudly as they were excited to have the rest area food. 

When the bus finally stopped at the said rest area, the bus was almost empty. Yunho was among the last to leave. He roused from his seat and walked weakly as he still feels dozy from the nap he took and he did not realize when did San leave him. As he was about to reach the bus door, Yunho was surprised by a sight of a sleeping Yeosang. _A sleeping beauty._

Yunho looked around him to check if there are still other students in the bus and thankfully there were none. He stealthily took a seat next to Yeosang and quietly watched the boy sleeping. The younger looks so peaceful and serene with his eyes close, unlike his nonchalant and wandering ones when he is awake. 

With all the courage he has, Yunho carefully raises his hand to tenderly caress the birthmark under Yeosang’s eyes. He has always wanted to touch it since he first noticed it - and when he did, a soft smile forming on his face. This is the closest he has been to Yeosang after his vent a few days back. 

Yeosang then suddenly stirred in his sleep as if he can feel that something is bothering him and Yunho thank the universe for giving him a good agility because he managed to get up from the seat quickly and quietly. The older then noticed how Yeosang was rubbing his arms in his sleep. _Is he cold?_ They are wearing their summer uniform today so it is understandable if Yeosang felt cold from the harsh blow of the bus air conditioner. Yunho then went on to lower the temperature and a thought suddenly hit him. So, he quickly left the bus and ran to the convenience store at the rest area. 

He hastily grabbed two bottles of strawberry milk, a large chocolate bar, a strawberry flavoured lollipop, a chocolate bread and a bottle of soft drink. He carefully placed them on top of the counter for payment and when it is done, he returned to the bus. Once again, he was thankful that no student is in yet except for the bus driver who seems too occupied with his phone. 

Yunho then stealthily tried to slip all the food and drinks into Yeosang’s backpack after taking out his own soft drink from the plastic bag and he smiled in triumph when he managed to do so without waking the younger up. 

Soon after, he heard noises from outside the bus signalling that the other students might get on, so he immediately made his move to his own place with a thought of Yeosang enjoying the food that he bought. 

***

The class spent almost two hours looking around the observatory. They were all listening to the observatory’s guide about how the place functions and what can be seen from there. Sensing that all students must all be bored when they were now into half of the visit, their homeroom teacher gave them a 40 minutes break before they proceed with the late afternoon talk regarding the observatory and the area. 

It seems like the universe is suddenly taking Yunho’s side today when San dragged both Yunho and Yeosang to hang out at a wooden picnic table under one of the many trees nearby the observatory. This time, Yunho was sure the universe is indeed helping him when he heard Mingi was called by the teacher to have lunch with him. 

“Kang Yeosang. You don’t have your lunchbox today?” San prodded curiously. It feels weird to him to see Yeosang without a lunchbox. 

“No. My parents were away so there’s no one to pack my food.” Yeosang explained shortly. “But my sister said we can buy lunch here.” He added as he rummaged through his backpack. Just in case he has something from the day before to munch on. 

“What about you, Yunho?” The youngest of all probed the oldest of them. 

“Huh? No. I never carried one.” The tallest replied as he was anticipating Yeosang’s reaction now that the younger is going through his backpack. He struggled to fight the urge to smile when he noticed Yeosang’s sudden puzzled face. 

“Choi San.” Yeosang called out timidly. He glanced at Yunho for a second before he turned to San to ask about what he found inside his backpack. “Did you buy these for me?” He whispered directly into San’s ear. 

“Buy you what?” San replied with another question as he peeks inside Yeosang’s backpack and when he saw them, he shook his head vigorously with his mouth full of rolled kimbap that his mother made for him. “Didn’t you buy them yourself? It looks like what you would buy on a daily basis though.” He paused to chew the whole role before adding, “Oh. Maybe Mingi did. He was with you, right?” 

One silent bystander named Jeong Yunho remained silent as the two small creatures were talking as if he did not exist. 

“Maybe he did. I’m gonna need to pay him later.” Yeosang concluded immediately because he is just too sugar deprived to think more and he is also too lazy to queue at the observatory’s café for lunch.

“I’m done. I wanna take some pictures. Enjoy your lunch, Yeosang. And enjoy whatever you have Jeong Yunho. I’ll see you two around.” San babbled excitedly as he roused from the bench to join the other students to take pictures. 

And now, after what seems to be forever, Yunho and Yeosang are finally on their own. 

The younger secretly chanced a glance at the older from time to time and was glad when Yunho does not seem to notice him. _Is he not hungry?_

“You like sweets that much?” The taller suddenly asked when he spotted Yeosang was already done with the chocolate bread and is now unwrapping his chocolate bar. 

“Hmm.” The younger hummed a yes to the question. 

“Those food fill you up enough?” Yunho prodded again. 

“Yeah. They do.” 

“Good then. Glad to know my pocket money didn’t go to waste.” Yunho blurted out nonchalantly, but is lowkey excited for the younger’s reaction. 

Upon hearing that, Yeosang’s munching on the chocolate bar come to a halt. “Y-you what?” He stammered nervously. 

“You heard me.” The taller replied calmly. “Just eat them to your heart’s content.” 

“I’ll pay you back.” Yeosang mumbled shortly. He could feel his face is burning up because earlier San and him thought it was Mingi who bought him all the sweets. 

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to. Take that as my token of apology for the other day. I’m sorry that I did what I did.” Yunho appealed to the shorter. 

Yeosang then was brought back to _that_ day in their classroom but to be honest, he was over it. He gave it a thought that he was at fault too after all. 

“I hope you’re not mad at me. Especially when I did that in front of everyone.” Yunho added remorsefully. 

“I’m not mad. I mean- I _was_ mad when you did that because everyone was watching. But I was at fault too. I should’ve been nicer to you. I should’ve been considerate of you.” Yeosang explained lengthily while keeping his gaze at Yunho’s eyes. 

The taller’s dazed look obviously shows that he is surprised by Yeosang’s explanation and it took Yeosang all his might to not laugh at him. 

Yunho blinked his eyes once or twice because that was the most number of words Yeosang had said to him and _he said he was at fault too? No, he’s not. And he said he should’ve been nicer to me? Yes, he should!_ But as if his mouth is glued, Yunho could not say a word to Yeosang. Not to be dramatic but this could be the happiest moment in Yunho’s life at his new school. 

“You should drink this too.” Yeosang’s calm voice, offering Yunho one of the two strawberry milks that Yunho bought earlier dragged Yunho out of his hazy thoughts. 

“Huh? Never mind. I have this.” Yunho nervously turned the offer down as he raised his soft drink bottle. “You drink it. I bought it for you.” 

“It’s bad to drink that on an empty stomach.” The younger chimed in as he poked a straw into the strawberry milk lid and slid it into Yunho’s hands on top of the picnic table. 

Too happy for Yeosang’s caring side, Yunho unknowingly let out a baby like giggle. He wrapped his long fingers around the strawberry milk bottle and shyly sipped the drink as he stared into Yeosang’s eyes. When Yeosang smiled at him, he was sure he has ascended to heaven. _Is this really happening? Is it the chocolate?_

“Thank you for the food and the drinks.” Yeosang showed his gratitude for the taller boy in front of him. “I’ll treat you to something nice someday.” 

“That’s a promise.” Yunho said as he excitedly raised his pinky finger to seal the promise. 

Yeosang chuckled softly with the back of his hand covering his mouth and proceeded to intertwine his pinky finger with a brightly smiling Yunho. 

***

The visit to the observatory is finally over with their last session being a talk about wavelengths that no one cares about - not even the silver haired teacher who fell asleep with his mouth open. 

Yunho was among the earliest to get on the bus. He gave up in trying to sit with Yeosang this time and set his mind on taking a nap before they reach their school. He rested his head against the window and blankly stared at Yeosang and San outside of the bus who seems so immersed in their discussion. He watched as Mingi joined the two and nodding his head as if agreeing to something. 

Yunho then decided he is just going to spend their way back home listening to some musics. He rummaged through his backpack pockets to look for his earpods and he found it the moment he felt someone standing in front of the empty seat next to him. _I hope San isn’t going to sulk because I just don’t feel like talking right now._

“Uh, can I sit here?” 

The moment Yunho heard the voice, he shot his head up in split a second, feeling beyond surprised because it is not Choi San that was asking him - it was Yeosang. Yunho could have swear that in the faintness of the sunset ray, he could see the younger was obviously blushing. 

“Yeah. Of course, you can sit here. Do you want the window seat?” Yunho asked in a rush when he felt that Yeosang could have been waiting for his response a little bit too long. 

“No. It’s fine. I can just sit here.” The younger motioned at the empty seat shyly as he settled next to Yunho and immediately untangling himself from his backpack to place it on his lap. “I told San that I want to sit with you.” He added as he fiddled with his backpack straps. 

“ _You_ told San you want to sit _with_ me?” The older probed incredulously, with his body turned to fully facing the younger. 

“Yeah. Well, if you’re not fine with it, I can go back to Mingi.” Yeosang fretted and was about to get off the seat when he felt Yunho softly placing his huge hand on the back of his hand. He stared at it for a moment before slowly raising his head to stare into Yunho’s glittering eyes. 

“Just- just sit here. I don’t mind. I like it better if it’s you. Not that I don’t like sitting with San- but yeah- I like it better if it’s you.” Yunho slowly blinked his eyes to show assurance for Yeosang to stay and was grateful when the younger just nodded his head, agreeing to just stay with him. 

“Your hand.” Yeosang murmured timidly. 

“Oh. Sorry. Force of habit.” The older grinned and retreated his hand from Yeosang’s. Without averting his gaze from the younger, Yunho leaned his back against the windowsill. He held back his smile when he noticed Yeosang is fidgeting - probably a bit bothered by him but Yunho just couldn’t care less anymore. He wants to stare at Yeosang to his heart’s content until they reach home. 

“Do you want to play a game? I know this one game we can play as a team.” Yeosang suggested as he took his phone out from his backpack’s pocket. 

“Game? Sure. I would love to.” Yunho beamed and took his phone out agreeing to the younger’s suggestion.

The two spent their two and a half hours trip peacefully playing games together. While Yeosang did not say much when he is playing the game, Yunho still felt content because at least the younger is now looking for him instead of just Yunho himself trying to get closer to him. _Slowly but surely._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yunsang in shout in silence vlive is my key strength to write this. 
> 
> Kudos and constructive comments are very much welcome. Thank you for reading. 


	4. Four.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeong Yunho is indeed in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love yunsang. and sometimes, minsang.
> 
> p/s: my bgm this time was ateez jpn track - better. i wish we have an mv for better.

  
School’s art festival is somewhat a new thing to Yunho. This is because his previous school rarely had one. They had it previously but it was before Yunho entered the school. He heard stories about the legendary haunted house his seniors had organized but never got the chance to experience it himself.

That is why when Mingi is leading their class’ festival committee meeting, Yunho could not help but feel all excited about it. He glanced at Yeosang who has a strawberry lollipop in his mouth and smiled brightly at the younger boy, to which the younger reciprocated equally brightly.

If there is one thing Yunho has learned after their class day trip a couple of weeks ago, it is to feed Yeosang with sweets to keep him all smiley and friendly. Hence, the dozens of lollipops inside Yeosang’s desk drawer.

“What are you gonna vote for? A play or a haunted house?” The taller whispered. He purposely pulled his chair closer to Yeosang’s just to make sure Yeosang is listening to him. 

“I don’t really care. Anything’s fine with me.” Yeosang replied before he casually crushed his lollipop with his teeth. 

“Ugh. That’s bad for your teeth.” Yunho reminded when he heard the crushing sound of the lollipop and Yeosang’s teeth gritting. 

“It’s bad enough that you’ve been feeding me with all the sweets these days.” The younger quipped. 

“Still, you need to see the dentist to have your teeth checked.” The older advised with a face full of concern as he tenderly wipes the remnants of lollipop on Yeosang’s lips.

“Hey! You two at the back. This is no lovey dovey time. We’ve got a war to win!” Mingi the class representative yelled from the front. 

The whole class turned to look at both Yunho and Yeosang. Yunho nodded his head repeatedly to apologise to everyone while Yeosang remained frozen with his blushing face. The taller then turned to look at Yeosang and mouthed a “sorry” to the shorter. 

“Kang Yeosang! Jeong Yunho! Now what would your votes be? Beauty and the Beast or haunted house?” The class representative yelled again. 

“I’d go with haunted house.” Yunho answered confidently. 

“Yeosang?” Mingi called anticipatedly now that Yeosang’s vote is the ultimate decider. They are now at 13-13 for the play versus the haunted house. 

Yeosang turned to look at Yunho next to him before looking at the front again where he noticed Mingi is obviously mouthing “beast, cake, beast, cake” repeatedly. He knew Mingi too well that the class representative is actually too much of a coward to organize a haunted house. 

“Beauty and the beast.” Yeosang placed his vote calmly. 

Half of the class roared when they finally have come to a final decision while half were complaining how haunted house should have been the better choice. 

Yunho took the chance to ask Yeosang on why did he choose the play. “What if they choose you to play Belle?” 

“They won’t this time.” The younger told. He is sure that Mingi will help him to avoid playing another princess role this year because he had _saved_ Mingi first. 

The voice of the class representative assistant announcing they will be voting for the props team members and characters stops Yunho from asking more. The thing that is bothering him is if Yeosang is to play Belle, it means he would be paired with whoever that is going to play Beast. 

The supposedly anonymous voting session was filled with roars of laughter from everyone and even the homeroom teacher was there to announce the characters. San especially was beyond excited when he is voted to play Gaston, quoting, “I don’t know who Gaston is but who cares?! I’m one of the leads!” 

And the time finally comes to announce who is Belle and Beast. Yunho glances at the boy of his life next to him but oddly, Yeosang does not seem bothered at all and the fact that he even had the time to check on his phone intrigues Yunho so much. His classmates who were not voted as the characters are obviously going to be working on the props and the play preparation and Yunho is very much sure that he is going to be one of the props team members too since he is new. Plus, Yeosang somehow ended up in the props team making Yunho wants to be in the production team even more.

“And now, the paper in my right-hand would-be Belle and the left one is Beast. I’m announcing the one in my right first.” The silver haired teacher explained before peeking into the folder papers. “ _Oof!_ I can see the names already! Drumrolls!” He then paused for a moment to take a deep breath and screamed, “Congratulations! Yunho and Mingi! What a beautiful pair! Ha. Ha. Ha.” 

The decision is finally made and the whole class cheered loudly when Mingi made a run to the back of the classroom to hug an unamused Yunho. 

“Belle! My Belle!” Mingi wailed into the older’s ear. 

“Get off me, you weirdo! I don’t wanna be your Belle!” Yunho resisted and everyone laughed at their antics. “Mr. Kim? Can I _not_ play Belle?” He asked from where he is sitting with Mingi’s hands circled around his neck. 

“Well, your friends voted for you but if you wanna change, maybe we can choose another Belle?” The teacher suggested. “Plus, you’re too huge to play Belle.” 

“Yeosang can play Belle then.” San chimed in out of nowhere and the other students seem to agree at the suggestion. He then casually settled at the empty seat owned by the assistant representative in front of Yeosang.

“What?! _No!_ ” Yunho firmly rejected the idea. “I mean, no. Yeosang cannot play Belle.” _No way in hell I’m making Song Mingi and Yeosang a pair again._ He turned to Yeosang, only to be welcomed with Yeosang’s oddly calm face.With a loud heavy sigh, Yunho surrendered to the decision. “ _Fine._ I’ll play Belle and can you please get off me?” He whined as he harshly pushed Mingi away. 

The homeroom teacher then left the classroom and Mingi once again took over the meeting session.

“You’ll make a handsome Belle.” Yeosang suddenly commented and it was obvious he was trying to fight the urge to laugh.

And before Yunho could say anything to Yeosang’s comment, the stern order from Mingi telling everyone who is assigned to a role to stay so they can discuss on the script resonated in the classroom.

“You’re going home now? Can’t you stay? With me? We’ll go home together.” Yunho probed at the younger when he noticed Yeosang was packing his things. 

“I’m sorry but I promised my friend to hang out with him today.” Yeosang explained apologetically. He stared into Yunho’s pleading eyes but he had promised him already. 

“Friend? Wooyoung?” San once again interrupted. “Where are you two going? I wanna join too.” He added sulkily. “You always leave me out.” 

“The usual place, I guess. He said he needed help about something. We talked last night so it’s quite a last-minute plan.” Yeosang explained without sparing the two boys a look.

“Can’t it wait? I can go with you after this.” Yunho asked again. The fact that Yeosang will be hanging out with his best friend, Wooyoung is bothering Yunho truthfully - but in a good way. He thought if he can join Yeosang he could see the younger being in his comfort zone, and he seriously wants to be the person that Yeosang is the most comfortable with. “I don’t think the discussion will take long. It’s just the script after all. Wait for me, okay?” Yunho appealed as he softly shook Yeosang’s forearm back and forth. 

“See- the thing is, Wooyoung is already at the gate. I can’t keep him waiting. I’m sorry, _really_.” Yeosang uttered apologetically as he peeled Yunho’s hand off his forearm. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” The shorter got up from his seat after waving San a goodbye, but his move was somewhat stopped when he felt his wrist was once again grabbed by Yunho. He turned to stare at his hand and then his eyes landed on Yunho’s dejected ones. “What now?” 

“Be careful. I’ll wait for you tomorrow.” The older whispered softly as he looks into Yeosang’s serene eyes before reluctantly letting him go and he watches as Yeosang’s small figure making a small run towards the door. _I wish someday he would run to me too._

***

The next morning, Yunho stands restlessly in front of the lift he usually waited for Yeosang. The discussion yesterday had ended after two dreadful hours after Yeosang left. He thought about asking the younger’s whereabout yesterday but on second thought, he was afraid that Yeosang would think of him as a clingy fella. Although he is in fact a clingy fella - especially when it involves his newly budding love for Yeosang. 

The _ping!_ sound of the lift brought Yunho out of his Yeosang-filled thought. It surprised him so much to see Yeosang came down from his level with his Father. Yunho then politely albeit frantically bowed to the old man before saying goodbye to him. They both followed and watched in silence as Yeosang’s father got on his car and left them for work. 

The taller then turned to look at the boy next to him. It does not go unnoticed to him that there is something different with Yeosang today. It is as if there is something that makes the shorter uncomfortable. _It can’t be me again._ He then quietly scanned the boy and noticed that something is attached to Yeosang’s finger. 

“What’s that in your hand?” Yunho started as they both made their ways to the school. 

Yeosang raised his hand up to his eye level when he heard Yunho’s question. “Ah. This? A finger splint. I fell yesterday when I was with Wooyoung.” He chuckled when he was reminded of how he fell when he was trying one skateboard that was put on display yesterday. It was rare for him to fall but things happened anyway. 

“You fell, had your finger wrapped in a splint like this and you can still smile about it?” Yunho fretted. 

“It’s nothing much. It happened when Wooyoung and I were trying the displayed skateboards. It was funny and Wooyoung got me recorded too.” Yeosang proceeded with storytelling, unaware of how much concern it has given Yunho. 

“That’s dangerous, you know? It could’ve been worse if you’re not careful.” The taller advised and suddenly stopped his walking which made Yeosang did the same. He tenderly took Yeosang’s hand that has his injured ring finger - as if Yeosang is fragile to his touch. Then he softly caressed the finger splint. “Please don’t tell me it’s broken.” 

“No. It’s just a sprain. But I still need to see the doctor in case of any internal bleeding.” Yeosang answered as he tried to pull his hand away from Yunho but his move was restricted when Yunho in return gripped his wrist tighter, refusing to let him go. “Hey. You can let my hand go now.” The younger attempted to escape Yunho’s hold when he noticed there were already few other pedestrians joining them that early morning. He looked up to the older and shivers ran down his spine when he saw Yunho’s cold and sharp glare at him. He unknowingly gulped when he felt the glare was too much to handle. 

“Promise me you’ll be careful next time.” Yunho finally said something after a beat or two. “I don’t like seeing you hurt. I should’ve just skipped the discussion yesterday and joined you.” 

“Yunho. I was meant to fall with or without you yesterday.” Yeosang commented as he twists himself around, allowing him to escape from Yunho’s hold. He giggled when he saw Yunho’s unamused expression. “How was the script anyway? Who gets to kiss who?” He continued as he tilted his head to urge Yunho to walk too. 

“I’ll make sure no one is kissing anyone. Especially if it’s Song Mingi. He keeps on puckering his lips at me. So annoying.” The taller whined. 

“That’s just Mingi being friendly. You should get used to it by now.” The shorter chuckled. 

“Yeah, right. I’d rather kiss _you_.” Yunho blurted out absentmindedly, way too late to realize what he had just said. 

“What?” Yeosang stopped his walking immediately the moment he heard the comment and shot his head up at Yunho.

“ _No!_ I mean- I was saying- Not that I wanna kiss you. I mean- I _do_ \- but, _ugh!_ You know what? I wish you were beast.” Yunho spat as he stormed off leaving Yeosang behind. _Goddamn it Jeong Yunho. Have some control!_

***

After his little slip-up this morning, Yunho could not bring himself to interact with Yeosang that much. Although the younger seems fine - that is what he _wants_ to believe - or, _maybe_ just maybe, only slightly awkward with him. At least Yeosang was okay when he asked for a pen. _I mean- who the hell tells their crush about wanting to kiss before a confession happens? Wait- confession?_ To be honest, the thought of telling Yeosang how he feels about him never crosses Yunho’s mind. Maybe he had subconsciously thought about it before, but he never thought of a positive outcome. He is scared of the idea that Yeosang would stray away from him, should he ever consider confessing. He is comfortable with how they are now - or maybe he should _not_ be especially when right now, in front of him, there is a certain Song Mingi who keeps on fiddling with Yeosang’s injured finger and it is even more annoying that Mingi keeps on pestering Yeosang to show him the video where he fell from the skateboard. 

“It’s with Wooyoung. I can’t show you. Even if I want to, I just can’t. And can you stop touching my finger? It’s suffocating enough with the splint.” Yeosang nagged exasperatedly.

“Yeah, can you _not_ touch him?” Yunho interrupted with his arms crossed over his chest. _Pisses me off seeing you touching him when it’s so hard for myself to touch him._ “Can’t we just proceed with the practice already?” 

“Geez. I’ve been touching Yeosang since forever. Stop showing your jealousy, dude. It’s so obvious and unnecessary.” Mingi retorted annoyedly. “We’ll start when San comes from the staff room. And our Yeosang here can go home early. As the man in charge, and as a good leader I am, I forbid Yeosang from touching anything that could cause him pain. What more with your injured finger. Also, we have a deal on this so consider yourself fired from the props team, my dearest Yeosang. Poor pretty finger is injured. Must protect.” He added lengthily as he cooed at Yeosang’s slender injured finger. 

“Deal? What deal?” Yunho chimed in curiously and played dumb as if Mingi did not just point out his jealousy of him. 

“Shh. It’s between me and Yeosang. You stay out of it. Come, Yeosang. Let me pack your stuff and walk you to the gate.” The class representative uttered happily as he walked towards Yeosang to help him pack his belongings but was stopped midway by an annoyed Yunho. 

“Tch. Back off. Let _me_ pack his stuff and walk him to the gate.” Yunho refuted as he collects Yeosang’s stationeries and textbooks to keep them inside his backpack. 

“Kang Yeosang, wait. Don’t you wanna watch us practice? It won’t take long.” Mingi suggested. 

“Why would I wanna watch you kissing him?” Yeosang questioned bluntly as he looks at both Yunho and Mingi. “I’m just gonna head home.” 

Mingi shrugged at Yeosang’s answer and left the two boys to join their other classmates. As long as Yeosang is still in the secret deal, he would not push him harder. 

“Let me walk you to the gate.” Yunho offered willingly. 

“No. You don’t have to. Just go on and practice.” The younger turned down the offer and walked past Yunho towards the backdoor. 

Yunho was sure, he heard some kind of familiar coldness from Yeosang and it suddenly scares him if Yeosang is distancing himself from him again. Scared of the possibility, he ran to catch the shorter who is already at the hallway and stopped right in front him, with his two hands gripping firmly on Yeosang’s shoulders. 

“Are we okay?” Yunho asked concernedly. 

“What do you mean?” The smaller questioned back. 

“Nothing. It’s just that- it feels like you’re different. Is it because of what I said this-“

“No, Yunho. We’re okay.” Yeosang cut the taller off. “We’re fine. I’m just a little tired.” He added as he softly pushed Yunho’s hands off his shoulders. “Have fun practicing.” He bids goodbye as he left Yunho in agony. 

“Damn it. Obviously, we’re not okay.” Yunho murmured as he stared at Yeosang’s back leaving him behind. 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so whipped for yunsang. 
> 
> Kudos and constructive comments are very much welcome. Thank you for reading.


	5. Five.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all about control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm. It's my day off from work so I thought I should update. I hope it's to everyone's cuppa tea. 
> 
> (my bgm this time was joseph vincent's "our first song". found out about this song from one yunsang edit on twitter)

It is three days before the school’s art festival and Yeosang is really not having any of it. One, because of the deal he made with Mingi, he ended up with absolutely nothing to do. He may have injured his finger but it was not to the point that he cannot even hold a painting brush for their play’s preparation. Two, because he had to pretend being okay with going home alone. The practice had been going on for a week and within _that_ week he had been going home without Yunho. Not that he was missing Yunho or whatever it is, but ever since he knew Yunho, he is not going to lie that he enjoys every moment of being with the older because of his friendliness, was kind enough to wait for him every day, buy him sweets and sometimes says sweet words to him like, “you look differently good today”, when he had a little haircut that no one would notice but Yunho weirdly did. 

And it was not like Yunho did not ask him to wait for him, but why in his right mind would Yeosang spend the evening watching Mingi making kissy face at Yunho? _As far as I remember, Beast was definitely not that into getting all touchy with people._ And the fact that Yunho seems to play along sometimes kind of bothered him too and he is certain that this feeling he had is indeed _not_ jealousy.

“Is this play even making any sense? Was Gaston always a flirty dude? And why does the Beast in our play is so needy?” Yeosang asked on another evening where he left earlier, going out on an ice cream date with Wooyoung while everyone is involved in the play practice.

“I don’t know, man. Maybe read the story again?” The younger suggested. “Why does it bother you so much though? You’ve been going on about it for days. And it’s not like you’re involved in it anyway. Good thing Mingi took you out of the team because of your injury. Who knows if it’ll get worse?” Wooyoung fretted as he tapped on Yeosang’s splint with his plastic ice cream spoon. 

“You don’t understand.” Yeosang took a moment to breathe in before loudly sighing. “ _Now_ I wish I was Beast. Or Belle. _Or_ a candle. At least, I’d have a reason to stay late with everyone. No offence though. I like hanging out with you but this is our final year together. I’d rather be with everyone from my class. Again, no offence.” He added with his spoon pointed at Wooyoung’s face.

“None taken.” The younger paused for a beat or two before accusingly teasing, “You mean to stay late with the new kid, Yunho?” 

“What? No! Where did that come from?” The older retorted. 

“Choi San, Song Mingi.” Wooyoung replied flatly with his mouth full of ice cream. “Mingi said the new kid likes you.” 

Yeosang literally choked on his New York Cheesecake ice cream when he heard the statement.

“Dude, you’re wasting my money. I bought this.” Wooyoung whined as he helped the older wiping the ice cream that he accidentally spat out. 

“Now _where_ did that come from?” Yeosang asked hoarsely. 

“I told you. Song Mingi.” Wooyoung answered even more flatly this time. “Mingi said the two of you walked to school together _everyday_. Even going home together _everyday_. Okay. Maybe it’s because you live closely to each other _,_ so that’s that _. But!_ Mingi also said that new kid bought you sweets _everyday_. _Ah!_ Not to forget. Mingi also said the two of you kinda had a moment in the classroom before? _And_ Mingi also said you gave him food on his first day. _You,_ Kang Yeosang doesn’t share food with literally _anyone._ Mingi said a lot of things actually. And those a lot of things exhibits the fact that the new kid has a thing for you. _And_ I think you like him too.” The younger blurted in a breath. 

“Mingi is seeing things.” That was all that Yeosang can come up with. 

“Mingi also said sometimes you look at the new kid with heart eyes.” Wooyoung added teasingly. 

“Mingi is also making things up. I don’t look at him with heart eyes. _And_ Yunho doesn’t like me. And I don’t like him either.” Yeosang denied firmly.

“Uh oh. As if you didn’t text me ‘what does it mean when a guy says he wants to kiss you?’ at three in the freaking morning.” Wooyoung who is having his second serving of ice cream jabbed again.

“I told you. A friend asked me that.” Yeosang uttered nonchalantly.

“A friend? Besides me, Mingi, San and that apple-breaker kid _,_ who else did you talk to? It’s not like you talked to any of the girls in your class either. Or do you have any other friends that I’m not aware of? Surely not. _And_ why did you eat things that he bought for you? _No!_ The real question is, why would he buy things for you at the first place?” Wooyoung provoked the older with shots of questions. “It’s obvious you two got a thing for each other. But both of you are either dumb or cowards. Maybe both.”

“You’re seeing too much into things that you didn’t even see with your own eyes.” Yeosang concluded shortly. 

“Am I? Fine. Mingi said the new kid, Yun- _Ho_ , gave you sweets everyday, right? If you don’t like him, you should not accept what he gives you next time. If Mingi reports to me saying you turned him down _then_ I’ll believe in you.” The younger said challengingly. He smiles triumphantly when he noticed how troubled Yeosang is right now. Yeosang may be aloof but he has a soft heart for people who are nice to him.

“ _Fine!_ Watch me prove I don’t _like_ him and he doesn’t _like_ me either.” The older accepted the challenge confidently although internally, he already can see where this is heading to. It would be hard to resist Yunho’s puppy-like characters but this could be the chance for him to understand his own feelings.

“Hit me up again when you have the receipt.” Wooyoung reminded with a winning smirk on his face. 

***

Two days left before the school’s art festival kicks off. Yunho is beyond excited to witness the crowd and the activities that are going to be held at the school, except for _that_ play. He just wants the play to end already so he can get back to his daily routine of walking home with Yeosang because it felt incomplete if his day is _only_ spent with walking to school with Yeosang. And the practice is one hell of a practice with how strict Mingi was with his directing. 

As Yunho looks back at the practicing days, he plays with the strawberry flavoured lollipop in his hand while he waits for Yeosang to come down. He has so much to say about their practice yesterday and could not wait to share it with the younger. 

When the lift arrives, Yunho’s ears perked up like one of those puppies have, but much to his surprise, it was only Yeosang’s father that walks out of the lift. His shoulder visibly slumped when there is no sign of Yeosang is in his vision. 

“You’re our Yeosang’s friend, right?” The old man asked. 

“Yes. May I know where is Yeosang?” Yunho queried politely. 

“He left early today. He said he has some errands to do at the classroom.” Yeosang’s father explained briefly. “I need to get going now. Be careful on your way to school and please watch our Yeosang for me.” He added with a fatherly smile. 

Yunho nodded and bowed to the old man. He was still confused of what was said by Yeosang’s father. _Errands? Mingi said Yeosang isn’t involved anymore because of his injury._

Without further ado, Yunho sprinted to his school that morning. When he arrived with his dishevelled hair, he nervously holds on to the door handle and prays that Yeosang is safe and sound at his seat already. Thankfully, when he finally opened the door, amidst the loudness of some of his classmates, he saw the younger is sitting quietly, staring into nothingness outside the window. He then made his way to his place and stealthily pulled his chair to settle down as he unknowingly fixed his hair.

Yunho took out the lollipop out from his pocket to tenderly poke Yeosang’s cheek with it. “Good morning.” He started, startling Yeosang who turned to look at the taller. 

“Huh? Hey. Good morning.” Yeosang replied monotonously. 

It did not go unnoticed to Yunho how unenthusiastic Yeosang sounded but he decided to ignore it for now. “I waited for you this morning but your father said you left earlier. Why didn’t you tell me? You should’ve texted me last night. We could’ve walked together as usual.” He asked curiously, still waving the lollipop in front of Yeosang with a smiley face. 

“I just remembered I had something to do this morning.” The shorter answered shortly, ignoring the lollipop by pretentiously rearranging his already tidy books on his desk.

_ Now  _ Yunho is sure he definitely heard the difference in Yeosang’s tone. “I see. You sound tired, though. I think you need this.” The older offered as he softly nudged Yeosang’s hand with the lollipop, with his smile still on his handsome face.

Yeosang who noticed that both Mingi and San were scrutinising him from the other side of the classroom unknowingly gulped and he mentally scolded himself for taking up the challenge from Wooyoung. He glanced at Yunho and the other two boys back to back before saying, “No. That’s fine. Think I shouldn’t be having too much sweets for now.” The younger finally turned the lollipop down. _Yunho, I’m sorry._ “I’m going to the washroom.” Yeosang added as he got up from his seat leaving an obviously dejected Yunho. 

Yunho froze in his seat as nothing comes to his mind except for the thought of Yeosang is once again being cold to him. _What was that? What did I do wrong?_

And just like that, Yunho was ignored by Yeosang throughout the day. It got so obvious that the younger was avoiding him when Yeosang groundlessly chose to follow Mingi to the staff room. He tried to think of other things that he could have done that made the younger returning to his origin when he first knew him - and when he thought of the day he said that he would rather kiss Yeosang reappeared in his mind, he could not help but think, that is the sole reason for Yeosang to avoid him. _He must’ve thought I’m weird._

***

That late afternoon, the homeroom teacher visits the classroom to check on their preparation for the play. The silver haired teacher was asking Mingi and his committee on how much they have done and was satisfied with how smooth everyone was with their assignments. 

“Oh. One more thing. Kang Yeosang?” The teacher called out from the front. 

“Yes, Mr. Kim!” Yeosang yelped when his name was suddenly called. 

“Your Mother called me just now. She asked for permission to excuse you for your appointment at the hospital on Saturday morning. Which means, you probably can’t join the opening ceremony and also our play. I told her it’s fine. You can come anytime you’re done with the check-up.” The teacher noted understandingly. “It’s better to mind your own health first, okay?” He assured Yeosang warmly. 

“Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Kim.” Yeosang replied softly before the teacher announces he is leaving the class now. He feels embarrassed now when the whole classroom is looking at him and some were also whispering things that Yeosang could not decipher.

“I never knew you can’t make it to our play this Saturday. Why didn’t you tell me before?” Yunho prodded as he turned to look at Yeosang. 

“It’s not important.” The younger stated flatly.

“Ah. I see.”, was all that Yunho can say when Yeosang did not even bat an eye at him. _Damn it. Look at me, would you?_ Frustrated at Yeosang’s cold treatment at him, Yunho abruptly stood up and walked out of the classroom furiously, totally missing out Yeosang’s sorry look for him. 

***

“Yeosang! Yeosang! Kang Yeosang! Come here! Come here!” Mingi yelled from where he is standing in front of the classroom.

Yeosang who already had his backpack hanging on his shoulders, weakly made his way to Mingi, ignoring the curious look that Yunho gave him.

The older who is standing on the other side of the classroom kept his eyes on what Mingi has for Yeosang. It bothers him so much when Mingi has his arm circled around Yeosang’s shoulders. And it bothers him even more when he cannot hear what the two were talking about. 

“What now, Song Mingi?” Yeosang whispered annoyedly. 

“When do you want the cake?” Mingi asked in the same whispering manner. 

“Anytime you have your money with you.” The older replied quietly. 

“Okay. And that should be next week because I used up all my allowance for PC cafe this week.” He confessed with his low tone voice and grinned when Yeosang glared at him. 

“Is that all? Can I go now?” The shorter uttered. 

“Oh. One more thing. You didn’t take the lollipop today. I saw it. San saw it too.” Mingi told the older as he teasingly wiggled his eyebrows. 

“Shut up. I saw you idiots too. Now let me go. I’m tired. Just buy me the cake next week or I’ll tell everyone your secret.” Yeosang warned firmly as he escaped Mingi’s hold and walked past everyone at the front of the classroom.

He chanced a glance at Yunho who was also staring back at him with eyes that Yeosang could not interpret its meaning. _Is he mad? Is he sad? Did I go too far? I’ll make sure to explain everything to him someday._ He decided to just proceed with ignoring Yunho for now and left the classroom weakly. 

As Yeosang reached the main gate, he heard his name being called repeatedly and when he turned, it surprises him to see it was Yunho who was running after him. He watched as Yunho tried to calm his breathing, with his hands on his knees. 

“I- need- an explanation.” Yunho started with uneven breathing. “Let’s talk.” He added as he pulled Yeosang’s hand but is still mindful of his injury, to walk to the back of the school’s auditorium. 

“Tell me. What did I do wrong? I don’t deserve any of these. You’ve been ignoring me. I can see that and it pisses me off when I can’t think of what exactly that I did wrong. You said it wasn’t because of what I said. Then what is it, Kang Yeosang?” Yunho huffed frustratedly as he holds on tighter to Yeosang’s hand.

“You did nothing wrong. It’s all on me so you don’t have to worry about it. Now let me go.” Yeosang replied half-heartedly. He really is not in the mood to explain himself, honestly. At least not until he can confirm his own feeling.

“You’re lying. You were acting weird around me today. I can feel that. You were fine with everyone, except for _me_. Just say it. I’ll fix what I can. Why do you have to be so complicated? It’s unfair to me when you treated me like I didn’t exist!” The older continues to fume. 

“Can’t you just drop this already? If you think I’m complicated, then stop being nice to me. Stop all your care for me. Stop waiting for me and just stop talking to me altogether. _Then_ it will be fair for us both!” The younger retorted as he harshly snatched his hand away from Yunho’s grip and stomped his feet to leave Yunho behind. 

But the taller was quick to halt Yeosang’s move as he caught up to him and blocked the shorter from leaving. He then grabbed Yeosang’s hand again. “You know I can’t do that.” He whispered softly this time like he did not just yell earlier as he stared into Yeosang’s eyes pleadingly. 

“That has nothing do with me.” The younger firmly said, but oddly he felt enticed by Yunho’s pleading eyes that he forgot his hand is once again in Yunho’s hold.

“Everything has got to do with you.” The taller mumbled quietly before he leans in closer to Yeosang and chastely kissed the younger on his lips. “I like you, Yeosang. I like you so much.” Yunho confessed tenderly.

Yeosang froze in his place and was not able to comprehend what had just happened. _Did he just kiss me?_ He unknowingly stared at Yunho’s loosened necktie when it feels like he had nowhere else to look at.

And when Yunho sees that Yeosang is not reacting to his confession and the kiss, he leans in once again and kisses the younger for the second time. This time, with his free hand, he softly wrapped his slender fingers on the nape of Yeosang’s neck, shuts his eyes tightly and took his time to feel Yeosang’s soft lips on his until he feels a hand harshly pushing him away. 

“Wh- what was that?!” Yeosang stuttered nervously as he took a few steps back. He can feel his face is burning up now that he actually realized Yunho was indeed kissing him.

Yunho then tried to reach to the shorter as he too realized what he had done in his subsconscious. “Yeosang, I’m sorry-”

“ _No!_ Stay away from me!” Yeosang yelled as he turned around and started to run leaving Yunho behind who attempted to run after him.

Yunho’s attempt to catch Yeosang abruptly stopped when he heard his name was yelled from afar. He knew that voice - it was their homeroom teacher. 

“Hey! Jeong Yunho! Why is our Belle slacking off?!” Mr. Kim shouted with arms akimbo. 

“Yeosang-”

“Yeosang what? He’s not involved anymore. Are you bullying him to make him work with his injured finger?” The teacher accused as he approached Yunho. 

“ _No!_ I was just seeing him off.” _Yeah, right and you totally screwed up._

“Oh. I see. Now go back and rehearse with them. Can’t believe Mingi made me look out for you.” Mr. Kim complained as he started to make his way back to the staff room. “What are you waiting for? Move now!” He probed when he realized Yunho was not moving.

“Right, right. I’m coming.” Yunho sighed when he realized he had no choice but to give in to the teacher’s order and weakly trailed Mr. Kim’s steps. His mind wandered to think of the softness of Yeosang’s lips, the harshness of his push and the fury that was written on the younger’s face - and right at that moment, Yunho realized, how he had crossed the line again and broke his newly created, precious connection with Yeosang. _You really need to have a control of your feelings, Jeong Yunho._

_ *** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and constructive comments are most welcomed. Thank you for reading. (one more to go!)


	6. Six.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't think i've said this enough but i love yunsang.

The day of the school’s art festival finally arrived. The crowd was impressive just like what Yunho had imagined since it was announced. The loudness of songs playing around the school compound surely proven as one of the best mediums to hype the students and the visitors. Post opening ceremony, he strolled around the school field where many stalls were opened with unique decorations. He sighed as he caught a glimpse of San, Mingi and another boy laughing at a flapping inflatable tube Pororo. Looking at the three boys reminded Yunho of Yeosang. How he wished he has someone to walk around with.

Speaking of Yeosang, after what happened the day before, Yunho was not able to get through to the younger at all – more like he did not have the courage to get through him. What more with Yeosang was absent yesterday. Mr. Kim mentioned something about Yeosang’s mother informing that her son was experiencing discomfort in his injury and upon hearing that, Yunho felt like his world almost collapsed. All he can think about was how he dragged Yeosang and how hard Yeosang pushed him away. It would be his fault if Yeosang’s healing period is extended.

“Yo!” A familiar deep voice startled Yunho from the back and he turned around only to see it was the trio that he saw before, with Mingi leading their way - but was suddenly pushed aside by the boy that Yunho was unfamiliar with.

“You must be Yunho. I’m Jung Wooyoung. Yeosang’s long time _best_ friend.” Wooyoung introduced himself and extended his hand for a handshake. 

Yunho chanced a glance at both Mingi and San who shrugged simultaneously before taking the hand hesitantly and smiled awkwardly at the boy. “Hey. I’m Jeong Yunho. Nice meeting you.” _So, this is Wooyoung._ He is not going to lie that Wooyoung was a bit intimidating to him right now. Probably because Wooyoung had just introduced himself as Yeosang’s long time best friend and Yunho was nowhere close to becoming Yeosang’s acquaintance. _Serves you right._

But it seems like Wooyoung was just too excited for the festival as he immediately dragged San towards a tteokbokki stall. Yunho let out a sigh of relief when it was clear now that Wooyoung is not really interested in him. It kind of hurts though, knowing the fact that he is Yeosang’s best friend but he seems uninvited to their circle - that is what his judgement said - _but_ he is going to overlook that for now. He still got a play to actually be worried about. And Yeosang of course. 

“Why are you alone?” Mingi asked as he motioned Yunho to start walking.

“I was just looking around before the play starts. When are we changing our costumes though?” The older casually changed the topic so that they will be talking about the play instead of talking about how he is pathetically missing Yeosang right now. 

“In 30 minutes. I hope we can win again this year. We won last time because Yeosang’s presence was a huge impact. You should’ve seen how he passed out after he ate the apple.” Mingi giggled at the thought of last year’s Snow White play but his face turned serious just a moment after as if he has something heavy to let off of his chest. “Look, buddy. I’m saying this because I sincerely care for you.” He started but stopped midway when San and Wooyoung were suddenly screaming for a takoyaki stall - to which Mingi yelled a “Go on first!” and turned to timidly look at Yunho again. 

“What is it?” Yunho raised his eyebrows.

“About Yeosang. I saw how you’ve been trying to get close to him since you arrived here - which is _very_ admirable because it’s Yeosang we’re talking about here. I understand that it might be frustrating because you know - he just doesn’t open up to people so easily. Even after knowing him for almost three years, I still can’t make of what’s inside his mind. It’s a different case for Wooyoung, I guess. Because they’ve known each other since forever.” The younger paused to take a deep breath. “And I noticed how Yeosang has been somewhat cold to you too but trust me - he didn’t mean it. He has his reasons, so you just hang in there for a while. It’ll get better for you two.”

“Oh yeah? How can you be so sure?” Yunho doubted the class representative. 

“I just know, okay? And I can’t tell you why. Just- wait.” Mingi stopped his steps and stared at the slightly taller boy next to him. “Yeosang is complicated as he is but you’ll figure him out. You know- he’s a great friend and sometimes is oddly adorable too. If it wasn’t because he said my taste in ice cream is the worst, I would’ve dated him already.” 

“You _what?_ ” Yunho blurted surprisedly, eyes widened. 

“We need to change now! Come on, let’s go and be the best Belle and Beast the world could ever witness.” Mingi beamed, ignoring Yunho’s curious dumbfounded state.

***

“Alright, boys and girls. Congratulations on winning the play trophy again this year! I knew it! I know I can depend on you people to prove that I’m a _great_ homeroom teacher.” Mr. Kim howled in front of his students in their classroom. 

“Uh, for the record, it was _my_ effort that should be credited here.” Mingi who is still in his prince outfit remarked.

“Of course, you too, Song Mingi but yeah, whatever. You don’t know what kind of war I’m having in that staff room.” The teacher added half-heartedly. “Anyway, enjoy the rest of the day and clean whatever that needs to be cleaned in here.” He reminded. 

“Mr. Kim!” San yelled from the back of the classroom. “Hmm. Is Yeosang coming here today?” He stammered with curiosity.

Yunho who had changed into his all-black PE uniform gazed expectantly at the teacher.

“I don’t know. Why are you asking me? You’re his friends. Pfft.” The teacher shrugged and left the classroom after saying he will help the class to claim their gift coupons. 

“Alright, everyone. There’s nothing much to clean in here. So, we can leave the class as it is. But the props, I was told we can take them home and the Drama club was interested in some of the them too. My suggestion is, don’t give them for free - instead, make them pay for it since we used our own money for those props and costumes. The Beast and Lumière especially _. Or_ you can just keep the costumes for your own use.” Mingi explained in details about what would be the next thing to do. “And also, just like Mr. Kim said, enjoy the rest of the day and thank you for all your hard work and dedication. I love you guys the most.” He added with dramatic fake sobs.

The class gave Mingi a round of applause and roared at his speech. And now, some of them have started to leave to visit the stalls and other fun things at the art festival. Mingi and San were amongst the most excited to continue where they left on earlier with San highlighting that, “The takoyaki was the best! Let’s buy it again with Wooyoung!” 

Yunho watched as everyone left the classroom. He smiled bitterly at the empty seat next to him. He missed his seat-mate and was just hoping he can see him again. He probably will, but things will surely change.

“Will you join us? Wooyoung is waiting for us somewhere down there.” San waved his hand in front of Yunho’s face, startling the older. 

“Maybe later. I’ll look for you guys after this.” Yunho answered bitterly. It was just not the same without Yeosang after all. He took a glance at Mingi who obviously had a troubled look on his face but his mind was just too full of Yeosang to be bothered by Mingi. 

The two then left leaving Yunho all alone in the classroom. The evening sun rays were blinding but he ignored it as he shifted to sit on Yeosang’s chair. _So, this is what he looks at every day._ He let out soft smile as he remembered watching Yeosang staring outside the window and let the bright sunshine bathed him as he supports his head with one hand on the table. He closed his eyes and tried to reminisce all the things that he did with Yeosang at their little space at the back of the classroom.

Suddenly, the creaking sound of the sliding backdoor being opened broke Yunho’s serene trance. He twisted his body to see who was at the door and weirdly, no one was there. Curiosity crept on him as he roused and slowly walked towards the door. 

“Who is it?” Yunho mused calmly. He walked closer and closer until he finally reached the door and what he saw behind the door was beyond his imagination.

“Kang Yeosang?” Yunho called the younger’s name confusedly. “Wh-why are you here?” 

“Hey.” The younger greeted shyly. “I thought everyone is still here but it seems like they had left already.”

“Yeah. They went to see the stalls.” Yunho could not help but to stare intently at the boy in front of him. He noticed Yeosang’s red ears - obviously showing how embarrassed he must have been right now. Another thing that he noticed was how the splint on Yeosang’s finger is gone. He impulsively grabbed the younger’s hand and letting it go immediately when he realized his rushed act. 

“Sorry.” Yunho was quick to apologize. 

“It’s fine. It’s all healed now.” Yeosang assured the older and squeezed himself in between the door and Yunho to walk into the classroom towards his place. He smiled sheepishly when he remembered he caught a glimpse of Yunho sitting on his chair earlier. “We can see all the stalls from here, apparently. Everyone looks so small.” He commented when he stared outside the window where all the stalls, the students and visitors can be seen. 

“Hmm.” Yunho hummed as he slowly approached the younger. He was doubtful of Yeosang’s calmness and friendliness especially after how furious the younger was the day before. “What brings you here? You should’ve told us earlier. At least we can wait for you for the group photo.” 

“I didn’t know when the check-up would end so I didn’t tell anyone. But Mingi did text me to come here whenever I’m free to go. Although, I was actually expecting the text to come from you.” The shorter went on with his explanation. 

“You were expecting me to text you?” Yunho _almost_ screeched in disbelief. “I thought you were mad at me after I ki-“

“Yunho, look. About the other day. I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just- I was just confused at how things progressed in between us.” The shorter cut the older off. “I guess I reacted wrongly to things and I’m here to fix everything with you.” Yeosang shrugged as he looked up at Yunho whose eyes Yeosang was sure could shoot laser with how intent his glare was. 

“Yeosang- you can just ignore what I said the other day and for the kiss? I’m sorry. I’m _really_ sorry. I crossed the line. You can be mad at me as much as you want but I don’t want us to stop being friends.” Yunho begged as he seeks understanding from Yeosang, but he was clearly missing the younger’s points.

“You’re not listening. Are you friend-zoning me now?” Yeosang teased with a faked gasp. “I want to sort things out with you but here you are, friend-zoning me. I’m hurt, Yunho.” 

“What?! No! I’m not friend-zoning you. Why would I? If possible, I want us to be _more_ than just friends!” Yunho blurted out hastily before realizing it was too late to take back his words now. He sighed heavily when he saw Yeosang’s startled face. “You know what? Forget it. You never heard anything from me.” The taller turned to stare outside the window in front of them. 

“I want it too.” Yeosang mumbled quietly. “I kinda like you too, Jeong Yunho.” The younger confessed suddenly.

Yunho turned around and looked at the younger in disbelief. He scanned Yeosang’s face in case the younger was joking or if someone had a knife at his throat or something.

“Look- Yunho. I’m sorry that I ignored you the other day. Like I said, I was just confused of how things went on between us. This is a first for me to have someone who treated me like you did and you look so sure of everything that it surprises me-“

Yeosang’s words were cut off short when Yunho suddenly pulls their body closer and immediately crashed his lips onto his. It took Yeosang a brief second to realize what happened and when he did, he immediately shut his eyes tightly to play along with Yunho’s move. 

Their kiss started slowly with Yunho taking his time to indulge in Yeosang’s soft lips. The taller guided Yeosang to wrap his hand around his waist and he smiled into the kiss when Yeosang obediently clutched on his waist firmly. Their kiss gradually intensified a moment after when Yunho started to find a better angle and he stealthily slid his tongue to urge Yeosang to open his tiny mouth and when the younger did, he slowly tasted every corner of Yeosang’s mouth and grabbed on tighter at the younger’s underjaw. The taller then continued to explore Yeosang’s mouth and he tasted the remnants of strawberry milk that Yeosang probably had before he arrived. After a moment of pure bliss and indulgence, Yunho pulled back a little to catch some air and let out a little proud smile when he saw Yeosang still had his eyes closed. He took the chance to gently bite on the younger’s soft lips and tenderly tugged on it, to which Yeosang just let out a baby like giggle when they finally disconnected from each other. 

They let silence joined them as Yunho slowly rocked their bodies and engaged in a staring battle - but _of course_ not without them shyly grinning at each other. 

“Since when?” Yunho started when he felt the silence was overbearing. 

“What do you mean?” Yeosang questioned back.

“I know I like you from the moment I saw you when I first came to this school. So since when did you start liking me?” Yunho elaborated his question. 

“I don’t know. Maybe since I first saw you? I don’t know you yet back then. I just know you were good looking and tall.” Yeosang chuckled when he is reminded of how Yunho had a little boy hanging on his back at that time.

“Back then? When was that exactly? And good looking?” Yunho queried weirdly

“When you first arrived at the apartment. With the mover truck.” Yeosang replied nonchalantly. “And yes, you were good looking.” 

“ _No way!_ You like me first?!” The taller screeched while slowly pushing Yeosang away to properly stare at his face. 

“I guess so.” Yeosang shrugged with pouted lips. 

The older could not believe what he just heard but he chose to settle with Yeosang’s confession for now. He sighed in relief when Yeosang smiled softly at him. He pulled the younger closer again and buried his face into the crook of Yeosang’s neck before saying, “I’m sorry for what I did before. What we are now doesn’t change the fact what I did was wrong. I crossed the line too many times.” He murmured remorsefully. 

Yeosang who had his chin hooked on Yunho’s broad shoulder remained unmoved and quiet. He explained himself earlier and he was hoping for Yunho to stop feeling all guilty by himself. He softly peeled himself off Yunho and placed his two hands on Yunho’s strong forearms. 

“Let’s just say we both did wrong.” Yeosang comforted the other and tiptoed to quickly kiss Yunho’s lips. Pink tint covering his cheeks when he saw Yunho cheekily smirked at him.

“Ah! There’s something else that I wanna know, though.” Yunho suddenly thought of a thing that had been bothering him and he internally whined when Yeosang completely untangled himself from him to stare out at the window again. 

“What is it?” The younger questioned, eyes peeking at the crowd through the window. _I wonder where’s Wooyoung?_

“What’s the deal with Mingi?” Yunho mentally kicked himself when he realized that he obviously sounded unnecessarily jealous of Mingi’s secret deal with Yeosang. Especially when he was sure he heard something about Mingi wanting to date Yeosang earlier that day. _Gonna ask Mingi again about that._

“Deal?” Yeosang turned to look at Yunho who was already taking a seat with his long legs stretched out. “Ah. The deal. You know how Mingi and Mr. Kim had already agreed on the ideas of either a haunted house or the play, right?” He asked after sitting on his own table. He smiled when Yunho quickly intertwined their hands. 

“No. I don’t.” The older replied flatly. 

“They both decided on it before you arrived, I guess. So, when the time to vote comes, Mingi texted me the night before saying that no matter what the number of the votes, I must vote for the play. And the votes somehow miraculously reached a draw before my turn. And that’s when Mingi’s extra voting card - which is me - became useful. I basically helped him escape the haunted house because Mingi is the _biggest_ coward I’ve ever known. I was just helping him to avoid clowning himself.” Yeosang explained lengthily and stared at Yunho’s blank face. “Are you with me?” He queried worriedly when Yunho’s discontented face was all that he can see.

“And what do you get in return?” Yunho asked, he looked up at Yeosang’s pretty sun-kissed face. 

“The most expensive ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins!” Yeosang beamed with shiny eyes. 

“That’s all?” The older squinted his eyes doubtfully. _I trust you but not Mingi._

“That is all.” The younger replied firmly. 

“I can buy you the cake anytime you want. I’ve got a card with me.” Yunho flaunted unabashedly.

“You’re making me sound like a gold-digger now.” The much shorter remarked. 

Yunho chuckled at Yeosang’s words. “I’m not, okay? What I meant was, you don’t need a deal with Mingi for a cake. You could’ve just gone out with me for a date and we can have as much cakes as you want.” He appealed to the boy in front him. 

“Pfft. You sure know how to talk.” Yeosang teased with a chuckle. 

“I guess it’s a date then?” Yunho asked again as he stared expectantly at Yeosang. 

“Let’s see. I still need that cake from the cheapskate Mingi who rarely buys anyone food and _yes!_ I would like to go for cake date with you.” Yeosang answered brightly. 

“It’s a date then.” Yunho reconfirmed as he got on his feet and grabbed Yeosang’s face softly. “ _Fy_ i, I’m super clingy and it’s too late to back out from _us_ now. You’re mine from today onwards.” He announced confidently as he leaned in to plant a quick kiss on Yeosang’s lips. 

“Ugh. You’re cringy” Yeosang could not help but shuddered at Yunho’s straightforwardness. 

“And you like me for that.” Yunho teasingly winked at Yeosang while helping Yeosang to hop off his table. 

“Let’s go walk around the stalls and I need to see Wooyoung later too.” Yeosang who was already at the back door beckoned at Yunho. 

“Alright! And I’m hungry too. I hope they still have the takoyaki.” Yunho added as he slung his messenger bag around his shoulder and strode confidently towards the boy who is his now. “Is your finger really okay now? Can we hold hands?” Yunho fretted. 

“Of course, we can.” Yeosang answered as he let Yunho took his hand to hold on to it tightly. “Oh, right! Show me your Belle look after this. I wanna see you in the dress.” 

“Ugh. Can I not? I feel exposed.” The older whined but when he saw Yeosang’s obviously fake dejected look (but adorable, _goddamn it)_ , he could not help but agreed to wear the dress again for him. “Fine. I’m only putting it on again because of you.” 

“That’s more like it.” The younger tee-heed when Yunho surrendered to his request. 

They both smiled at each other and made their way through the hallway with their hands intertwined, their hearts connected and minds looking forward to what they will venture together. 

**The end.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've finally posted the ending and i really hope you'll like it. drop comments (and kudos too) if you do. hehe. thank you for following this story that nobody asked for and for dealing with my cringey writing (i mean, i tried). i apologized for any grammatical mistakes since english isn't my first language >.< also, i may or may not have one extra chapter that i accidentally wrote on my notes while i was on an online meeting. but i'm not sure if i should post it or not >.< anyways, thanks again for reading. xoxo.


	7. Extra: The Date.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just Yunho and Yeosang being adorable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some parts were inspired by an incorrect tweet(s).
> 
> Also, I'm still on my leave so I had time to write and post this one. I hope you'll like it!

The Date.

“Oh? Yeosang? You’re here for Yunho?” The lady with a shoulder grazing hair started when she saw Yeosang standing in front of their door. “Sorry, I was out to throw away the rubbish.” 

“Hello. It’s alright. Mrs. Jeong. I just got here.” He replied with a polite bow. 

“I think Yunho’s still in bed. I told him to stop playing games until midnight but he just never listened and now he let his friend wait for him.” Yunho’s mother nagged before welcoming Yeosang to step inside. “Come in, Yeosang.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for letting me in.” _Yunho’s got to be joking. He decided on our date but he’s not up yet?_ Yeosang internally complained as he contemplated whether he should stay there or just leave only after ten seconds entering Yunho’s house. This was his first time at the Jeong’s residence though. He usually met Mrs. Jeong at the community centre of their apartment complex.

“Yeosang? I’m sorry, but can you help wake Yunho up for me? Something came up at work. I need to leave again.” The lady sighed after reading something on her phone. “Haa. I thought I can rest today. My husband even brought Gunho out so I can do whatever I want.” 

The boy remained quiet at the vent. He felt bad because it was a weekend that a nurse rarely had but she somehow had to go too. 

“Wake Yunho up for me, okay? His room has his name on the door. I’m sorry, sweetheart. Come here again next time. I’ll bake you some cheesecake. Yunho said you love cakes. He talked about you lot.” She beamed, already looking forward to having Yeosang again. 

“Ah. Sure. Thank you. Be careful.” Said Yeosang when he walked her out to their front door. _Hm? This is not my house though._ The irony of sending off the owner of the house made Yeosang felt like curling into a ball.

The door was closed after Mrs. Jeong bid her goodbye. Yeosang walked back inside to stand in the middle of Yunho’s living room and tried to resist the urge to look at all the hanging photos on the wall. He thought it was rude and creepy to be looking at other people’ stuffs - especially when none of the owners were there and one is probably still sound asleep. After a moment of weighing if he should just leave and wait for Yunho to text him again or just go on to wake him up, Yeosang raised a determined fist to go with the latter. 

He was grateful when he noticed Yunho’s door was ajar - probably was left like that after his mother’s failed attempts to wake him up. Yeosang fished for his phone from his jeans pocket quickly and sighed heavily when it showed it was almost 12 in the afternoon because they should have met up an hour ago. _Yunho said he has a card and I’m gonna make sure he buys me the most expensive desserts and never-ending chickens._

Soon after, Yeosang found himself sitting with his legs crisscrossed next to Yunho’s bed - watching Yunho’s lamppost-like figure sprawled on his stomach, his cheek squished on his pillow and _oh is that drool?_ The wide-awake boy proceeded his peaceful trance for another passing minutes with his hand absentmindedly threading through Yunho’s hair. His trance was interrupted when Yunho started to mumble unintelligible words. 

“Mom- _nooo._ Gunho ate my carrot-“ and then he flipped onto his back, chewing on air. 

“Yunho. Jeong Yunho.” The younger decided he had enough of observation. “Yunho, wake up. We’re going out today.” 

“Mom, please- Holy carrot! Kang Yeosang?!” The older screeched and immediately kneeled on his bed when he realized it was not his mother that woke him up - rather, it was his boyfriend since the last two weeks. 

The mentioned boyfriend rolled his eyes at the much taller boy. “Not to be petty, but we’re supposed to leave an hour ago.” _Is he dreaming of carrots?_

Yunho’s mouth twitched as his brain tried to register what exactly is going on - Yeosang is in his room, sitting ethereally on the floor with a yellow shirt – _oh my god! yellow looks great on him -_ and trying to come up with a reason on why he is not showered, unprepared for their first date. “Yeo—“

“Before you explained, I’d say you should take a shower first. We’re- no- _you’re_ an hour late.” Yeosang held his hand up, stopping Yunho from explaining himself. “And don’t you _dare_ kissing me without brushing your teeth.” He warned when he saw the other was off his bed with lips puckered closer to Yeosang’s face. His warning made the other pouted. 

“Okay! I’m sorry, really. Wait for me. I won’t take long.” Yunho scrambled to grab his towel and before he made a run to his bathroom, he grabbed Yeosang by his waist and made him sit on his bed. “Sit here. You’ll hurt your legs if you sit on the floor.” 

Yeosang watched quietly as Yunho’s figure disappeared into his bathroom. He scoffed when he heard the sound of what seemed like a shampoo bottle falling to the floor and the hissing sound Yunho made. “Tsk. Serves you right.” 

A few minutes later, the much taller boy walked out of his bathroom with dripping wet hair and only a black towel hugging his waist to his knee. “What are you looking at?” He asked, startling Yeosang who was staring intently at his phone. 

The shorter shot his head up and blood rushed to his face the moment he saw the state of Yunho in right now and he immediately diverted his vision to his phone again. “Put something on quickly. I don’t wanna keep saying we’re late but _we’re late_ and I’m starving.” He mumbled, flustered at the amount of skin that Yunho was displaying. 

Yunho who noticed the effect that he gave to Yeosang then smirked at his reaction. _Right, I don’t think I’ve seen him changed his PE uniform with the rest of the boys before._ Suddenly, a lightbulb flickered on his mind. He bent down to match Yeosang’s eye level and whispered “Can I kiss you now? I’ve brushed my teeth.” against Yeosang’s lips.

“No.” Yeosang replied lowly, eyes avoiding Yunho’s playful ones. “I said put something on or—“

Cold lips stopped Yeosang from finishing his words and all he knew now Yunho had already grabbed him by his underjaw and smooching him all over his face. The older only cackled when his boyfriend shot him a death glare after releasing him. 

“Should I wear yellow too?” Yunho had asked, now standing in front of his cupboard. 

“Up to you.” Yeosang advised flatly. 

“I’m just gonna go with this.” The other decided to go with a black and white plaid shirt paired with a white t-shirt and a black jean. He glanced over at Yeosang who was so into staring outside the window and returned to look at himself in the mirror to fix his hair. “You know- you daydream a lot. Mind telling me what do you have in your mind?” 

“Nothing much. Desserts. Chicken. World problems. Homework. My skateboards and drones. _You.”_ The smaller nonchalantly made a list, still staring outside the window.

Yunho let out a proud smile when he heard the last item of the list. _He’s probably saying the last one because I’m not looking at him._ “Okay! We’re good to go now!” He beamed and held out his hand for Yeosang to grab - and Yeosang did, albeit shyly. 

***

“Who were you playing the game with last night?” Yeosang questioned, with his mouth almost full of his third serving of New York Cheesecake flavoured ice cream. 

“San, your friend Wooyoung and was it Jongho? They said something about him breaking apples and San said he’ll introduce me to everyone properly someday.” Yunho replied with his thumb casually wiping off ice cream from Yeosang’s corner of mouth. 

“So Mingi wasn’t lying when he said he was studying.” The shorter uttered. 

“Mingi? San did say he called him to join us but he declined. Was he talking to you?” The taller probed, side-eyeing his boyfriend next to him. They were sitting at the table by the clear glass window. 

“Hmm. I was reading last night and he called me asking for some notes.” Yeosang explained, unaware of Yunho’s scrutinising eyes. “Which is very typical of Mingi. He may not look like it, but he’s extremely diligent when it comes to studying. He’s one of the top students after all.” 

“I see. So that was why you didn’t text me back last night? Because you were talking to him?” Yunho prodded, a bit disturbed of the fact that Yeosang did not seem to see through his jealousy.

“I didn’t text you back because you said you’re about to embark in a war- which I fully understood as your virtual war. _And_ because Mingi stopped by to pick up the notes.” The smaller of the two clarified.

“Mingi stopped by at your place?” The other almost shrieked at the information he heard. 

_Bang!_ And then out of nowhere, in front of the new couple, there appeared the mentioned subject of the discussion and another boy, Jung Wooyoung slamming his hands at the transparent glass, making Yeosang missing the timing to respond to Yunho’s agony. They both watched silently as the other two boys walked in to the ice cream franchise outlet. 

“Yo! Kang Yeosang!” Wooyoung greeted his bestfriend as he back hugged him. “You’re eating ice cream without me? That’s mean.” He whined playfully. His high-pitched voice made everyone in the ice cream outlet turned their heads. 

“Just the two of you?” Mingi queried with his eyebrows raised. 

“Yeah.” Yunho replied shortly. “We’re on a da—“

“We’re out looking for some books. The one I told you about last night?” Yeosang chimed in quickly. _No yet, Yunho. Not yet._

If Yunho were to compare how shattered his feelings are right now, he would liken those feelings to how his Cookies ‘n Cream ice cream is melting currently. _Calm down for now._

“Hey, Yunho. It seems like you’re taking my best friend away from me, huh?” Wooyoung asked sarcastically. 

“No one is taking anyone away. Where’s San?” Yeosang interjected, not wanting Yunho to blurt things out unexpectedly. 

“Taekwondo. His dad said he’s been slacking off a lot these days.” Mingi answered briefly. He could not help but noticed the uncomfortable look on Yunho’s face. _What’s with his constipated face?_

“Yeosang. Help me choose my ice cream.” Wooyoung suddenly said without waiting for Yeosang’s reply and dragged him away from the two tall boys. 

Yunho and Mingi both watched in silence as the two made a beeline towards the long queue at the order counter before Mingi took the stool that was previously occupied by Yeosang. 

“Did you meet Yeosang last night?” Yunho started with his hand busy stacking Yeosang’s and his empty cups together. 

“Huh? Yeah. I did. I was from my academy and dropped by to borrow his notes. Yeosang has one of the most complete notes in our class.” He explained with his eyes wandering around the outlet’s pink and white themed decoration. “Ah! Wait! I owe him the cake. Let me buy it for him—“

“He ate them already. And you don’t have to.” The slightly taller boy pulled Mingi backward by his elbow, making him seated again. 

“Wh- why? I promised him the cake. He’ll hate me if I don’t buy him the cake. It was our deal.” The younger reasoned. 

“Do you like boys?” Yunho blurted out of nowhere. 

“What? Why are you asking me this?” Mingi questioned back, weirded out by Yunho’s sudden interrogative behaviour. _Where is this coming from?_

“That day. You said you’d date Yeosang. Do you like him?” The other interrogated more. 

“Wait- no way! You believe what I said? Word for word? Jeong Yunho, come on. I was joking, okay?” Mingi burst into a cackling mess when he saw Yunho’s baffled look. “You should ask Yeosang about that joke we played with before.” 

“Yeosang knew? What were you guys before?” The older asked again, and _again_ Yunho has a tendency of missing a point.

“It was just something the four of us talked about before. Something like if we were girls or boys, will we date each other? Yeosang said that he would never date me because my taste in ice cream is the worst and I might be one of the tallest girls he knew. So, he _rejected_ me. That was it. You should listen to what was San’s reason to reject Yeosang if he was a girl though.” Mingi clarified lengthily before engaging in a laughing frenzy. 

“So, you don’t like Yeosang?” Yunho frowned quizzically. 

“Of course, I like him. He’s my friend. My studying mate. What’s wrong with you? You’re funny.” Mingi quipped, still holding his belly from laughing too much before his face stiffened suddenly. “Wait. Why are you asking me this? You sound like a jealous boyfriend.” He commented with his eyes squinted doubtfully. 

“I was just curious, okay? You tend to leave your narrative on a cliffhanger and it made people suspicious and wondering.” Yunho retorted rather timidly. _What the hell, Jeong Yunho?_

“Yeah, right.” Mingi replied shortly with a knowing smile that Yunho refused to decipher what was its meaning. 

Yunho thought, if Yeosang chose not to admit that they were on a date, it would be better to just go with it. Yeosang rationalised things better than him after all. 

“What are you two talking about to the point that Mingi’s laughter can be heard over the music?” Wooyoung prodded as soon as he and Yeosang returned to their place. “Here’s your mint choco.” Wooyoung added, shoving the ice cream cup into Mingi’s chest.

Yeosang who is now having his fourth serving of ice cream curiously stared at his boyfriend’s unsettled expression. 

“Nothing. Just explaining stuff to Yunho here. You know, how to mingle with us and all that. We’re the cool kids so he needs to know our patterns.” Mingi briefed with his mouth covering his mouth, to block the second wave of laughter that was threatening to leave his mouth. 

“Let’s go, Mingi. We’re almost late to my Aunt’s piano recital now. My mom is probably there already.” The youngest of the four beckoned at Mingi to start moving. 

“Alright, we’ll get going now. Kang Yeosang, if you found the book, let me know. Oh! Your cake, I’ll just have it delivered to your home later.” Mingi remarked. “And Yunho buddy, _chill_.” He winked with his mouth opened teasingly. 

“Bye.” Yeosang bid them goodbye and softly nudged Yunho’s shoulder to do the same, which he did only after a beat or two. 

“Can we leave too, now?” Yeosang asked. He subtly leaned against Yunho’s shoulder when the older seems like he had his mind out of his head. 

“Huh? Yeah. Chicken?” The other tilted his head and roused from his stool, towering Yeosang who was still loosely clutched onto him. 

“Chicken.” 

***

“If I was girl, would you still like me?” Yunho was thinking out loud when he and Yeosang decided to hang out at a park’s bench after their late lunch (and pre-dinner) that day. The sun has fully set, letting the night sky roofing them.

“Huh? What is this? Is this a yes or no question or do I have to elaborate my answer?” The shorter answered with another question. 

“Suit yourself.” The taller shrugged as his hand started to softly rubbing at the nape of Yeosang’s neck. Good thing the bench they were on was far from the lighting. So, no one was there to watch them and he can be as close to his boyfriend as much as he wanted. 

Yeosang pondered for a moment. He wet his lips before saying, “No.” 

Somehow, the younger’s answer did not surprise Yunho. _The reason is probably the same as Mingi. Maybe not the ice cream, but my height._ “Why?” 

“Why? Because you’re too—“ 

“Tall?” Yunho chimed in. 

“Oh? How do you know?” Yeosang yelped in his place and turned to face the other. 

“I just know.” Yunho shrugged again. “What if I _am_ a boy but I’m not tall?” He tested again with his head cocked to the side. He interlocked his slender fingers with Yeosang’s and rubbed circles on the back of his hand. 

“Probably no.” Yeosang answered firmly. “What’s with all these questions anyway? Are you having an identity crisis?” 

Yunho chuckled at his boyfriend’s judgement. “What’s with you and height anyway?” 

“I don’t know. I just thought tall boys are cool but tall girls made me insecure. You know- because I’m not tall.” Yeosang drawled. 

“But you’re cute.” The older said honestly. “Now I have a better reason to be thankful of my height. Since according to you, tall boys are cool. So, I’m cool.” He leaned in closer to Yeosang to peck him on his cheek and he let out an airy chuckle when Yeosang warily looked around them in case anyone is watching. 

“What’s bothering you though? We’re only into our second week of dating and you’re already this weird. Do I need to be worried of this?” Yeosang fretted but not without a hint of teasing in his tone. 

“I was just making sure that we’re a match to each other.” _And also, thanks to Mingi for leaving me hanging since school’s art festival._

“Does it mean if we don’t match, you won’t be with me?” The other took a guess. 

“If we don’t match, I’ll make us match. One way or another. Plus, I know we are _indeed_ a match.” Yunho said convincingly. 

“How so?” Yeosang raised his eyebrows with wonder in his eyes. 

“I just know.” The taller replied and once again he smooched Yeosang on his other cheek. 

The shorter than repositioned himself to face forward and stare into the dimness of the park. They let the late summer wind softly touching their skins. The silence in between them was deafening but it was comfortable. Yunho kept his hand entangled with Yeosang and he smiled when the other rested his head on his shoulder. 

“Hey. I’m sorry about this afternoon. When we were with Mingi and Wooyoung.” Yeosang uttered with a bit of concern lacing his tone. 

“Hm?”, was all that Yunho managed to let out. Puzzled by Yeosang’s sudden apology. 

“I didn’t mean to hide our relationship.” The much smaller boy explained shortly.

_Oh. This._ Yunho chose not to comment on anything for now. 

“It’s still too early and we’re still in school. Although the boys kinda new about me crushing on you before, I don’t think I’m prepared enough to just drop _this_ on them. _Us,_ I mean.” Yeosang took a pause to breathe in deeply and breathed out slowly before saying, “They’ll probably notice things for now, but someday- _someday_ we’ll let them know from ourselves and I hope you’re okay with this.” 

The roaring sound of an airplane flying highly above them allowed Yunho to compose his reply for Yeosang’s worry. 

“I don’t mind. _At all._ I’ll go with whatever pace you want as long as you tell me about it. If you have worries like you do right now, tell me straightaway. Don’t hide. I’m here for you. _With_ you. And I’ll always be.” The older comforted Yeosang tenderly. He then went on to frame Yeosang’s tiny face with his hands, with his thumbs tenderly rubbing on the younger’s ears. 

Upon hearing Yunho’s comforting words, Yeosang proceeded to mirror Yunho’s action on him. They grinned at each other. A habit they both started to have whenever their eyes met. 

“Can I kiss you here?” Yunho whispered lovingly. The urge to kiss Yeosang was strong but he knew now that Yeosang is wary of their surroundings. 

“I taste like chicken though.” Yeosang chuckled shyly. 

“Well, so do I. We both had the same chicken.” Yunho quipped before noticing Yeosang’s slow blink, allowing him to have their moment outside.

Their lips met in a lovingly slow rhythm. Yunho took his sweet time and guided Yeosang to an angle that he knew he can make them feel comfortable more. The taller moved his lips languidly and Yeosang joined the beat that Yunho created and went on to hold on to Yunho’s forearms - another habit Yeosang had whenever they kissed. Yunho softly pulled on the shorter’s bottom lip and they parted when Yeosang pulled away, followed by a whiny complaint of, “I’m cold.” Yunho chortled at the other’s whining. 

“Let’s head home.” Yunho said, rousing from the bench with his hand held out for Yeosang to take. 

“Can we stop by at any convenience store, first? I feel like having another ice cream.” Yeosang let out as he took Yunho’s hand into his. 

“Of course, we can.” The older replied with a sweet smile only for Yeosang and the younger reciprocated with an even sweeter smile only for Yunho to see. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? This was not the extra chapter that I mentioned before, though. but I hope it makes your day. Kudos and comments are very much welcomed. Thank you for reading and take care!


	8. If Without You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yunho and yeosang after two or three years together.
> 
> title is my yunsang national anthem: if without you // ateez

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s valentine’s day this weekend so why not post something cringeworthy for my whipped for yunsang a$$. 
> 
> also, if a mention (or a hint) of sex isn’t your thing, please avoid this extra chapter at all cost.
> 
> hope you’ll like it.

Yunho weakly walked into his and Yeosang’s shared apartment after finishing his discussion with his classmates. The discussion took longer than he had expected — with everyone bidding goodbyes to each other at almost 12 midnight.

After hanging his keys at the key rack, he slumped himself onto the couch, with eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. He thought of his boyfriend for almost three years who is definitely in his dreamland right now in their bedroom. Knowing how Yeosang could wake up to the tiniest sound, Yunho opted to stay at the living room for a while — or even just sleep there.

Thinking of Yeosang, he is not going to lie, he is the happiest man to have his boyfriend with him - his first love. Yeosang is everything he needed in a partner. The younger was the epitome of perfection to Yunho. He was beyond ecstatic when Yeosang agreed to move into an apartment with him instead of living in the dorm or taking buses from their parents’ place on a daily basis. 

Now, it has been almost a year that they have been living together. They shared literally everything. It is a bliss for him to think that Yeosang is with him for most of the time. He cannot imagine his life without Yeosang and the younger with someone else. He vowed to keep Yeosang all to himself for the rest of his life. 

After some time of indulging in the quietness, he then took out a small velvety red box from his pocket and proceeded to stare at it before gently opening it. The two rings inside the box made him smile. He worked hard for the rings - despite his classes, assignments and the basketball club, he managed to slot in some of his time for a part time job at a book cafe. He bought the rings since the last two weeks and had been carrying them around thinking Yeosang might find them. He had planned to buy their couple rings earlier - as early as during Chrismas but Yeosang ended up falling very sick because of fever and flu, and was bedridden for a week.

Yunho’s childishly in love mind told him that all the public dates were not sufficient to prove a point that Yeosang is his - especially when Yeosang tends to be very nonchalant when they’re outside. He needed something else to show to everyone that Yeosang was off limits — to anyone, boys or even girls. Hence, the purchase of the couple rings using his hardly earned paychecks.

The sound of their bedroom door being opened broke Yunho’s cloud of thoughts. He quickly stuffed the box into his pocket and sat up straight, anticipating the figure that is going to appear from the hallway. 

“Yunho?” The said figure, Yeosang, called groggily. “What are you doing in the dark?” He added as he made his way to their kitchen counter after turning on the blinding lights and settled on one of the stools. 

“Nothing. I didn’t wanna wake you up so I waited here. Why are you up, though?” The older asked with a fond smile on his face when he noticed that Yeosang was wearing his hoodie that the younger paired with his own baggy sweatpants and made his way to the kitchen to join him. 

“I’m thirsty. I forgot to refill my tumbler. And now I forgot to bring my tumbler with me to refill it. Ugh.” The shorter whined. “How’s your discussion though? Did it take so long that you only came home at this hour?” 

“We’re almost done with everything. Just a little fixing here and there, then we’re done.” The taller replied as he softly rubbed his thumb on Yeosang’s sleepy face. “Did you miss me?” He asked after quickly kissing Yeosang on his lips and he smiled when the shorter scrunched his nose. 

“No.” Yeosang answered flatly while pouring himself a glass of water. “I was just worried if you fell asleep in the bus and ended up at a bus terminal again. Not like it never happened before.” 

Yunho scoffed at Yeosang’s words. “I won’t but still, I miss you.” He confessed unabashedly. “Is it possible to miss someone I slept with every night and woke up to every morning? I wish we’re in the same classes so I can be with you all the time.” 

“Can you not? I’m drinking here. You don’t want me to spray you with the water.” Yeosang replied but he was obviously affected by his boyfriend’s words when his face turned crimson red. “I’m thinking of bleaching my hair.” He suddenly said when he felt Yunho’s loving gaze at him was too much. “Stop looking at me like that.” 

“Bleach your hair? So suddenly?” Yunho probed weirdly at the topic that Yeosang brought up. He never really gave it a thought whenever Yeosang changed his hair colour because it did not really matter to him. Yeosang looks good with any colour. After all, he is Kang Yeosang — beautiful in every way.

“Mingi said I should give it a try. He said I might look good because of my skin tone.” The smaller answered nonchalantly as he sipped his plain water again, unaware of Yunho’s sudden change of expression. 

“You’re bleaching it because Mingi told you to?” The older prodded as he clasped his hands together on the countertop and leaned his body forward interrogatively. “Why would he say that? And when did you see him?” 

Yunho, Yeosang, Mingi, San and even Wooyoung were all in the same university. The only thing that sets them apart was their choices of departments, with only Wooyoung and San being in the same one.

“We were talking about some idols’ hairstyles and he said I should try bleaching mine.” Yeosang explained and his mind knew full well what Yunho’s last two questions were about, so he purposely left them unanswered. Sleep may still get his consciousness but he knows his boyfriend enough to catch his jealousy tone.

“You met Mingi today? San and Wooyoung too?” Yunho asked again when he noticed Yeosang seemed to miss out on his last questions. 

“Just Mingi. We ran into each other at the library. Then we went on to hang out at the cafeteria. He needed a few more people to answer his questionnaires so I helped him there.” The younger clarified. “Anyway, I’m bleaching my hair.” He concluded as he rouse from the stool to wash his glass briefly and placing it at the dish drainer. 

“Because Mingi said it will look good on you?” Yunho took a guess and got up from the stool to grab the towel that is hung on the kitchen cabinet to wipe Yeosang’s hands. 

“No. Because I want to.” Yeosang noted shortly. 

“You listened to Mingi quite well.” The older said calmly but almost accusingly. 

“I listened to  _ everyone _ quite well. Please don’t start anything at this hour, Yunho and you need to stop your suspicions of everyone.” Yeosang blurted out matter of factly.  _ This happens a lot.  _ Yunho’s suspicion of the people around Yeosang was the reason why the younger never intended to get a part time job — because Yunho once said people would take advantage of him or even hit on him. “I’m gonna head back to bed. You should wash up and go to sleep too.” Yeosang reminded as he walked past Yunho to their bedroom. 

“You only need to listen to me though.” The older murmured to himself when he heard their bedroom door closing. 

***

_ 2 weeks later.  _

“I need an explanation.” Yeosang started when he arrived home. He was not feeling too well because of the sudden winter rain and was not feeling even well with what he had in hands. So when he entered their kitchen to the sight of Yunho preparing dinner, he knew he had the best chance to confront his partner. “What are these, Yunho?” 

“Hey, welcome home. What—”

“Explain.” Yeosang ordered firmly the moment he threw some pictures onto the countertop. 

The older then nervously placed his ladle into the sink when he heard the younger’s stern tone and picked up the pictures that were scattered. Thankfully he was just done with his cooking. 

Yunho’s eyes widened when he saw some forgotten but familiar pictures of him from his autumn MT from months ago. He unknowingly gulped when one picture precisely showed he was kissed by a female classmate on his cheek and sort of understood where this conversation would lead them to.

“You let a girl kissed you? And you never told me about it?  _ You _ who doubted me with literally everyone but had the audacity to keep this from me?!” The younger yelled with arms akimbo. 

“Look, Yeosang. I can explain. It was just a game and she was asked to kiss me.” Yunho explained in a rush and tried to hold Yeosang’s shoulders but the shorter was quick to dodge him by taking a step back. 

“Don’t touch me! You could’ve said no to her! I listened to all your words. I told you my whereabouts, who I’m sitting with everyday and who I’m having lunch with if it’s not you. And I can’t even text Wooyoung without you proofreading it. And yet, you let a girl  _ kissed _ you behind my back, Yunho! A girl!” Yeosang exploded as he stormed off to their bedroom with Yunho following closely behind. 

“I told you. It was just a game of truth or dare. I didn’t want to embarrass her so I let her be.” Yunho tried to reason but it was apparent to him that Yeosang wasn’t listening when he noticed Yeosang suddenly pulling out his suitcase. “What are you doing?” 

The younger left Yunho’s question unanswered as he begun taking out his clothes and stuffing them into his suitcase. 

“I’m asking you. What are you doing?” The older asked with his hand grabbing on Yeosang’s wrist strongly.

“I can’t be with a partner who doubted me all the time but doing the worst behind my back. I trusted you. So,  _ so _ much that I gave up on so many things and you went on fooling around.” The younger tried to untangle himself from Yunho’s grip but Yunho’s strength did not even budge. 

“You’re leaving me?! Over a girl kissing my cheek?!” The taller could not help but yelled back at the other.

“Yes! I’m leaving you because you let a girl  _ kissed _ you on your cheek! Maybe I wouldn’t be so betrayed if you told me about this when you returned from the trip, but you didn’t, Yunho. You  _ didn’t _ ! You kept me in the dark and I had to find out about it from other people.” Yeosang retorted and was internally grateful when Yunho let his wrist go. 

The older rubbed his face when he felt like he was already at wits’ end. This is the first time ever he had seen Yeosang so furious of him. The younger had his fair share of anger before but it was never to the point he would pack his stuff. “Yeosang, please. Hear me out.” 

“I heard you enough and I’m leaving.” The shorter uttered as he tried to pull his loaded suitcase. “Let’s take a break for a while and let me think about us on my own.” He added with a calmer tone now. 

“I don’t wanna take a break. I want us to talk this out. You need to trust me. I swear, I only let it happened for the sake of the game. Hell, if I know you would be this mad I would’ve stopped her.” Yunho justified himself pleadingly. 

“So you thought I wouldn’t find out? You were planning to keep this from me forever? You’re kidding me, Jeong Yunho. If you think you’re the only with suspicion or jealousy in this relationship, you’re  _ dead _ wrong. I had mine too but I had control over it. Unlike you, who kept me from doing stuff but turned out to be the worst.” Yeosang let out a loud sigh and tilted his head upward to stare at the ceiling, ignoring the begging look that Yunho put on. “Let’s just take a break. Don’t reach me until I get back to you. If you do so, I swear to God I’m breaking up with you.” He warned firmly with sharp eyes boring into Yunho’s guilty ones. 

“Yeosang, please. Don’t do this.” Yunho attempted to hold the younger but when Yeosang took a step back from him, his heart shattered to pieces and there was no word that can describe how bad it felt being rejected by the boy he loves the most. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I won’t keep a secret from you again.  _ Never _ . So,  _ please _ , stay and let’s sort things out together.” 

“No. I just need some time to myself to think about us. Without you clouding my judgement. If you’re thinking of stopping me, consider we’re done.” The younger insisted as he turned and started to drag his suitcase. 

“Yeosang, please. I’m sorry.” The older appealed and he unknowingly took a step forward to follow Yeosang but the shorter somehow turned again and glared at him, sending him warnings what would happen if Yunho tried to stop him. 

Upon seeing the younger’s piercing glare at him, Yunho abruptly stopped in his place and watched silently the moment Yeosang made his way out of their bedroom. And when he heard the front door closing, he fell to his knees with no thoughts other than the despair of spending his days and nights without Yeosang. 

***

“Choi San! Jung Wooyoung!” Yunho called hastily when he ran into them at their university’s cafeteria. “Have you heard anything from Yeosang? Did he call any of you?” He asked after slamming his sling bag on the table. 

“Woah, dude. Calm down. Let us eat first.” Wooyoung uttered with his mouth stuffed with pork cutlets. “We’re not Yeosang. Your puppy eyes don’t work on us.” He added when he noticed the older’s pout.

“What’s wrong? We haven’t seen or heard from him for days. The last time was when we went to have chicken with Mingi. You were there too.” San interrupted, sensing that something serious is happening. 

“He left me.” The tallest answered shortly. 

“He  _ what _ ?” 

“ _ Finally _ .” 

San and Wooyoung blurted out simultaneously and turned to look at each other, with faces as if someone just said something so out of this world. 

“Finally? What do you mean,  _ finally _ ?” Yunho questioned in disbelief. “Do you know something that I don’t? He said something to you?” 

“Nope.” Wooyoung replied, popping his lips on the ‘p’ sound. 

“Yunho. You need to explain to us in detail. Why would he leave you? You were all over each other.” San prodded with his mind suddenly wandered to the day where Yunho told them that he and Yeosang are together - which was after they all got the results for which department they were accepted to - after almost seven or eight months the two started going out.  _ They hid it well from everyone but Wooyoung, Mingi and I just knew.  _

“My classmate kissed my cheek for a game of truth or dare during our MT. There were pictures taken and he somehow found those pictures from I don’t know who. And then he got so angry and he left me. Said we needed to take a break.” Yunho explained exasperatedly. He chanced a glance at Wooyoung who remained unbothered of his agony. 

“Your classmate. Is it a boy or a girl?” San asked curiously. 

“A girl.” Yunho replied shortly. 

“Boom!” Wooyoung shouted out of nowhere. “That’s it. That’s the end of it.  _ You _ my man, are indeed guilty as charged.” He announced confidently.

“Wooyoung, please. Don’t scare him. We still need to hear more.” Currently the most sensible of all, San, tried to calm Wooyoung down. “What else happened?” He added after turning to look at Yunho again. 

“That’s all that happened. Yeosang found the pictures. He got mad. And he left me. And it’s been two days. He won’t pick up my calls, let alone replying to my texts. It’s even worse because he’s on a field trip too this week. He said I can only reach to him again if he calls for me first. But he has  _ not _ !” Yunho whined as he pulled his hair stressfully. 

“Hmm. I can’t say much on this.” San concluded with his hand stroking his non-existent beard. “Maybe just wait for him.” He shrugged. 

“I was just playing along with my classmates and it wasn’t something so important so I didn’t tell him about it. Plus, it was months ago already.” Yunho justified himself. 

“You see, Yunho. To be honest. This is just my opinion, but I feel like Yeosang never hides things from you. Even if it wasn’t so important, he would’ve told you about them. So you should do the same too. Maybe he has the right to get mad after all.” The younger defended Yeosang, thinking he knew Yeosang longer so he should at least have a personal stance. Although it was quite a biased opinion. 

“Yeah. You’re like his cctv. Except that you didn’t have a live surveillance. You texted him all the time even when he’s hanging out with me. If I were Yeosang, I’d feel suffocated but surprisingly, it seems like he did not.  _ Weird _ .” Wooyoung interrupted with his hands crossed over his chest. He was done with his pork cutlet. 

“Wait. What do you guys mean? Am I a bad partner? I was just worried about him. I needed to make sure he’s safe all the time. You know how careless and oblivious he can be. You guys knew him longer.” Yunho replied defensively. 

“Yeosang is 21 years old.” Wooyoung stated as a matter of fact. “He doesn’t need another 21 year old to text him all the time. Not even his parents did that.” He jabbed again. 

“Look, Yunho. You just need to wait. You said he got mad. Yeosang has a soft heart. Just let him cool down, first. And if you two are talking again, maybe it’s better to just admit that you did wrong.” San suggested calmly. “Also, think about what we said too. Those are just our opinions though. You can try asking Yeosang too when he gets back to you. Change wherever change is required.” 

“Still, I don’t deserve this. I can’t see him for a week now and I don’t deserve the silent treatment.” Yunho sighed heavily. 

“You know what else that you don’t deserve?” Wooyoung asked flatly. 

“What?” The oldest questioned back. 

“Kang Yeosang.”

San gasped softly upon hearing that and Yunho’s shoulders obviously slumped as if the Earth had just fell on top of him. 

_ Oh, shit.  _

***

“What?! Wooyoung said that?!” Yeosang asked incredulously. “That’s gonna break his heart.” 

“Yeah. That’s what he told me. But, for the record,  _ you _ broke his heart first?” Mingi asked with his long finger pointed at Yeosang. “You can’t blame Wooyoung though. They don’t know about your plan.” 

Yeosang who had just returned from his class’ field trip is currently crashing at Mingi’s apartment that was owned by their former homeroom teacher, Mr. Kim and another man that he knew as Park Seonghwa. How Mingi ended up living with their former teacher was still a big question mark to everyone.

It had been a week since Yeosang left Yunho with no news, but he had a reason why he was doing so. He was actually planning to give Yunho a surprise for Valentine’s Day. 

“I think you kinda went overboard with your  _ surprise plan _ .” Mingi commented, air quoting his words. “Yunho looked miserable these days. I haven’t seen him yet because who knows I might bust your plan but the pictures that San sent me was enough to know how much of a misery he is.” 

“I just need to make this a good one. I’ll explain to him later. I told you, everything that I said to him was not all true. Well, some of them are the ones I’ve been holding back from saying but most of them are just jokes.” The older explained himself. 

“Oh yeah? Which one is true and which one isn’t?” The younger tested. 

“I couldn’t care less about him letting his classmate kissed him because  _ duh _ he has me, Kang Yeosang - but I really meant it when I said I don’t like it if he gets suspicious of people around me. It’s just unnecessary and unreasonable.” Yeosang confessed with a heavy sigh. 

“Fair point.” Mingi nodded his head agreeing to the shorter’s words. “You could’ve said it without all the drama though. I never knew you were into those fake jealousy thingy.” He remarked after a beat or two and proceeded to grab the chips on the coffee table. 

The two were hanging out at the living room watching some rerun of a survival show but no one was bothered to know what actually happened. 

“I just got the idea. Thanks to you who found the pictures.” Yeosang said as he remembered the day he ran into Mingi at the library and were talking about idols’ hairstyles, which was also the day Mingi had shown him the pictures. The younger actually had gotten the pictures from his older housemate, Seonghwa who had just recently been hired as a new teaching assistant in Yunho’s department. 

“Still, I feel bad for him. Like, you shot him with those words and just left him like that. I’d be hurt too if that’s how you try to surprise me.” Mingi remarked with a shrug. 

“Weak.” Yeosang quipped shortly. “Anyway, I know how to handle him, so you don’t have to worry about that. And thank you, for telling me about those pictures. I’ll pay for your PC cafe entrance next time.” He added gratefully. 

“12 hours worth.” Mingi tried to bargain. 

“6 with unlimited snacks and drinks.” The older negotiated. 

“Deal.” The younger extended his hand for a handshake and Yeosang took it firmly. 

“I’m going back to my place tonight. Thanks for letting me stay here.” Yeosang said with a friendly smile. 

“Nahh. No big deal. I’m gonna go out. Text me when you leave.” The taller reminded as he got up from the couch. 

“Alright.”  _ Now all that’s left to do is my hair. _

***

Yunho sprawled on his and Yeosang’s shared king-sized bed after coming back from his parents’ place. He was not supposed to see them today but he opted to and even went to Yeosang’s parents’ to see if his boyfriend was there but sadly he was not. 

“Where are you?” He sighed for the millionth time. “That was just a game. I won’t hide anything from you again and I’ll change. I won’t hold you back anymore. Just come home already.” He murmured to himself. 

He remained sprawled for another few minutes with his eyes blankly staring at the ceiling.  _ Yeosang did this a lot. _ He smiled bitterly when he remembered his boyfriend’s habit whenever he had something in his mind or even when he was just mindlessly daydreaming - or even after their love making session. 

It was when Yunho had his eyes closed that he heard a rustling sound somewhere in the bedroom. He ignored it at first but when the sound got even more frequent and louder, he warily roused from the bed and stealthily walked towards the sound - towards the huge wall-mounted wardrobe. Shivers ran down his spine when he heard a giggle from the wardrobe and he unknowingly whispered, “Who is it?” 

After a series of rustling sounds, suddenly, the wardrobe doors were opened from the inside, revealing the face that Yunho had been missing for days - Kang Yeosang, the love of his life. 

“Surprise!” Yeosang screamed with a bouquet of roses in his hand and something that looked like a box wrapped in white glittery wrapping paper in another hand. “Happy Valentine’s day, Jeong Yunho!” He beamed, followed by a hearty laugh. 

The older did not seem to be able to process what was going on - all he did was stare at Yeosang’s obviously freshly bleached hair and the two things that the younger was holding. 

Yeosang who noticed the lack of reaction from Yunho then tiptoed to kiss him on his cheek and whispered another “happy Valentine’s day” into his ear. 

The taller blinked his eyes once and twice before saying, “I don’t understand. Valentine’s day? I thought we’re taking a break.” 

“Yeah. So I can prepare all of these for you.” The shorter chuckled, shyly covering his face with the rose bouquet. “Ah! These are for you. Take them.” He added as he shoved the bouquet and the present into Yunho’s broad chest. 

“I still don’t get it.” The older said lowly while his hands moved to collect the things that Yeosang gave him. Yunho watched as Yeosang walked past him to sit on the edge of their bed and invited him to sit together by tapping the empty space next to him. He obediently followed suit and placed the bouquet and the present onto the bed. “Aren’t you mad at me?”

“Not the slightest.  _ But _ ! I have something to say that you need to listen carefully and no interruptions allowed.” The younger warned with his index finger pointed at Yunho. He smiled in triumph when Yunho nodded compliantly with his puppy face. 

“Uh, wait. I need to see your face.” The older suddenly said and grabbed Yeosang’s shoulders to fix his seating position so they are now facing each other. “Okay, you may start now.” 

“I got those pictures from Mingi. You know Mingi is staying with Mr. Hong, right?” The younger took a pause when Yunho nodded. “Mr. Hong recently had a new housemate, named Park Seonghwa. Ever heard of that name?” He asked with his head slightly tilted to the side. 

“Park Seonghwa?” Yunho murmured quietly. “No way! That’s our new TA!” He screeched in disbelief. 

“Yes. And apparently, he was the one who had those pictures of you during the game. And then when I ran into Mingi before, he showed them to me and I went on to ask him to request for those pictures from Seonghwa hyung. So Seonghwa hyung emailed me those pictures and I had them printed and that’s how my attack on you started.” Yeosang clarified in a breath. 

“So you were not mad? At all? But all those thing you said—”

“Some of the things I said, I meant them, Yunho. I was wrong for not telling them straight up to you before, but I really meant it when I said I have my suspicions too. But like I said, I have a control over it while you don’t. I love the fact that you think you’re caring for me, but sometimes it gets too overwhelming, almost suffocating.” Yeosang stopped momentarily to take a deep breath and slowly breathed out. “You waited for me when I had a gathering which made people start to question me. I don’t mind people finding out about us, but our society isn’t an easy one to live in. You texted me every day asking me who I’m sitting with but you know it well I like being on my own and I’d occasionally sit with my classmates for discussions. And do you think I don’t get jealous like how you sometimes got jealous of Wooyoung for sending me silly memes at night and how Mingi would tell me I look good with bleached hair? Or when I went out with San to help him shop for groceries? I do, Yunho. I get jealous and suspicious too. I mean- It’s not like I’ve never seen how the girls in your class looked at you. But how you control me sometimes can be tiring. Most of the time, I feel bad that I think it’s tiring and unnecessary but I never talked it out with you.” He finished with a sigh and a slumped shoulders. 

They let silence befell on them after Yeosang’s confrontation. Yeosang knew this would hurt Yunho’s feelings, but he needed to be honest if he wanted them to last forever. He loves the attention that Yunho gave him but there were times where he would prefer it if the older would just chill and trust him more.

“I didn’t know that’s how I made you feel. I feel like shit now.” Yunho mumbled with his head hanging low, breaking the silence. 

“A handsome shit.” Yeosang quipped to make the air lighter. “But you’ll fix it, right? I mean, we both will fix this. We’ll get better, Yunho. There’s always room for a little change.” He added as he softly took Yunho’s hand into his and started to softly rubbing circles on the back of the older’s hand.

“Of course, Yeosang! I will fix it. I’m sorry. I’m really,  _ really _ sorry being unnecessarily suspicious of you. I’m sorry for treating you like that. I just- I just can’t help it sometimes. I was afraid someone might take you away from me. I can’t imagine my life without you. I  _ lived _ without you for days and I suffered. I don’t want that again. Please, forgive me.” Yunho begged after he got off the bed to kneel in front of Yeosang. 

Yeosang chuckled at Yunho’s timid outburst. “Sure I’ll forgive you and I’m sorry too for yelling at you that day. I was just so in the moment.” He smiled sheepishly. 

“Maybe because your words really came from your heart, they shot right through me. Wooyoung even said I don’t deserve you. Please tell me I do, Yeosang.” The older appealed while criss crossing his legs on the floor. 

“We don’t deserve each other but like I said, we’ll make things right. I can’t imagine my life without you too. We’ve been together for almost three years and I’m just so used to having you with me already.” The younger replied as he watched Yunho repeatedly kissing his knuckles. 

Once again, they let themselves be engulfed by the quietness. The humming sound of the air conditioner that Yunho turned on earlier was the only sound that can be heard right now as they silently stared into each other’s eyes.

“Happy Valentine’s day. I love you.” Yunho whispered lovingly after a moment with his eyes gazing lovingly at Yeosang. He shook Yeosang’s hand a little when he saw the younger seemed reluctant to respond to his confession.  _ He’s still very shy to say it after all.  _

“Happy Valentine’s day, Yunho.” Yeosang whispered back at his boyfriend.  _ Saying ‘I love you’ is still the hardest for me.  _ “I got you flowers and a present. I feel bad that we didn’t get to celebrate Christmas much last year. What a weird time for me to fall sick.” He looked back at the day where he fell very sick and was bedridden in Christmas week. 

“Can I open them?” Yunho asked as he got up from the floor to sit on the bed again. He proceeded to grab the present after Yeosang jerked his head at the nicely wrapped box. 

Yeosang stared silently at Yunho’s way of unboxing his present. Knowing him, unboxing was one of the things that Yunho enjoyed and he loved seeing the excitement on the other’s face. At first, he thought about buying some new games for him, but he was with Yunho when the older bought the latest one recently. And then, he remembered how Yunho was talking about some new hoodies he found online but said he will only buy them with his next paycheque - and those are the hoodies that the taller is holding right now. 

“These are so cool. Seriously. You bought these for me? But they are expensive. And there are even two of them.” Yunho fretted with furrowed eyebrows. “And those roses too. Thank you for these.” 

“Nahh. It’s not much compared to how you’ve spent on me with your own paychecks before. After this, we both need to learn to save for the future too.” Yeosang suggested with a smile.

“Future?” The taller perked his head up, almost not believing those words just came from Yeosang. His hands are now moving to fold the new hoodies with care and placing them aside to get a better access to Yeosang.  _ These are from Yeosang so they are as precious as him.  _

“What? You don’t want a future with me? I’m fine with that.” The younger teased with a shrug.

“Of course, I want a future with you. More than anything.” Yunho smirked and he leaned in to kiss the younger chastely. A week of not kissing Yeosang had been a hell on Earth for Yunho and he has something else he wants to say before he gets their moments start. 

“Promise me you won’t ever say the b-word again.” The older reminded as his thumb tenderly rubbing on Yeosang’s birthmark. He then went on running his fingers through the shorter’s soft hair.  _ Damn it. Your hair is such a turn on. _

“B-word?” Yeosang questioned confusedly, unaware of the flare in Yunho’s eyes. 

“B-r-e-a-k u-p.” The taller spelt the words, refusing to say it directly. 

“Oh? Break—”

“Shh. Don’t say it.” Yunho immediately covered Yeosang’s mouth with his huge hand. “ _ Don’t _ .” 

Yeosang obediently nodded when he finally understood the older’s reminder, to which Yunho replied with a quiet compliment of “good boy.” 

Yunho did not waste anymore time to make up for a week of not devouring his boyfriend. He whispered a soft warn of “I won’t let you sleep a wink tonight” before slowly pushing the younger to lie on his back. “I love your hair.” He added breathily after leaving open mouth kisses on Yeosang’s soft, milky neck and unbothered to wait for the younger to reply to his remark as he sneaked his hand under the other’s shirt to kick start their Valentine’s Day celebration.

***

The morning sun rays flowing through the curtain woke Yunho up from his slumber. His mind automatically brought him back to last night’s occasions; Yeosang coming back to him with a surprise, then resolving some issues in their relationship and their intense but tender love making session. After quickly cleaning themselves up, they spent another hour talking their hearts out and the conversation ended abruptly when Yeosang fell asleep in the middle of Yunho’s dramatic storytelling of how he became a very sad puppy after talking to San and Wooyoung. 

Right now, Yunho would love to look back at what happened last night more, but the sun was just too bright to his eyes that it made him groaned into his pillow. He was expecting Yeosang to still be all curled up next to him if he turned to the younger’s side of the bed and when he did, he jolted up in a flash because not a strand of Yeosang’s hair was in his vision. 

His head was dizzy from the sudden rouse but he fought it just so he could find Yeosang immediately. He rushed to their bathroom just in case the younger was there but unfortunately he was not. Just a few seconds after that, he made his way out of their bedroom while nervously calling for Yeosang’s name. 

The sight of Yeosang sitting on their kitchen stool made Yunho sighed in relief. He was traumatised from not seeing him after the younger left him a week ago. 

“You should’ve woke me up.” Yunho started after gently patting Yeosang’s head and chastely kissed him on his cheek. He took a seat next to the shorter and got on his feet again in a split second to run back into their bedroom before Yeosang could say anything. 

After two sips of his hot chocolate, Yeosang silently looked at the taller who is wearing the hoodie that he gave last night, paired with checkered pyjama pants, returning to his seat with a smile on his face. He raised his eyebrows in confusion when he saw Yunho seems to be hiding something behind his back. 

“Valentine’s day was yesterday but I’ve got something for you too.” Yunho said before taking a seat and quickly kissing Yeosang again - this time on his lips. “Take this.” He added as he slowly pushed a small red velvet box in front of Yeosang. 

“What’s this?” The younger asked shortly and set aside his hot chocolate mug. 

“Open it.” Yunho replied and softly nudged Yeosang’s hand to open the small box. 

Yeosang squinted his eyes at the older but went on to open the box nonetheless. When he saw what was inside the box, he froze in his seat and blinked once and twice at the two rings in front of him. 

“You don’t like it?” Yunho questioned when Yeosang’s silence started to worry him. 

“It’s not that I don’t like it. They’re pretty but they looked expensive. Is this why you worked so hard at your part-time job?” The shorter took a guess. “I saw how hard it was for you to juggle things.” 

“I wanted to give you something to put on every day that could remind you of us.” Yunho explained defensively. “And I kinda want you to wear it so people would know that you’re with someone - with me.” He murmured timidly.

“It’s beautiful, Yunho. Although I still feel bad that you worked so hard for these.” The younger agonised, with his troubled eyes looking at Yunho’s calm ones. 

“If you feel bad, then you should just put it on. But seriously, you don’t have to feel bad for this. You earned it, Yeosang. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me and you deserved this no matter what the process.” The taller clarified as he took out one of the rings and motioned for Yeosang to hold out his hand. “It’s yours, and you’re mine.” Yunho announced after smoothly sliding the ring into Yeosang’s left ring finger. 

And it goes without saying that Yeosang picked up the other ring to put it into Yunho’s ring finger. Just a second after he slid the ring, the older abruptly stood up and grasped on his jaw to passionately kiss him. He let himself be manoeuvred by Yunho when he felt the stronger of them lifting him up so effortlessly to sit him on the countertop and his legs immediately wrapped around Yunho’s middle. 

The taller then rushed into the kiss by urging Yeosang to open his mouth, tasting the hot chocolate that he had earlier. Yunho took Yeosang’s soft muffled moan as a sign that the younger was in the mood for a little bit of morning make out too. His hand wandered to unbutton the shorter’s shirt with the thought of continuing where they left off last night. 

“Yunho.” Yeosang breathily moaned his lover’s name to which the older just lowly hummed into the crook of his neck while Yeosang had his hands gently tugging on the taller’s hair. 

Yunho then trailed kisses down the younger’s neck and unknowingly smirked at some of the marks and bruises that he planted last night - which Yeosang habitually tried to hide with a concealer, with some bite marks that were just too stubborn to be covered. And when he was about to reach his chest, his moment was disturbed when Yeosang suddenly yelped and pushed him away. His eyes widened at his boyfriend’s sudden rejection. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Yunho asked in confusion. 

“It’s not that I want to ruin the moment but I have a group discussion after this. Look at what I’m wearing. This is my  _ class _ look.” Yeosang clarified himself when he noticed how taken aback Yunho was. “I’m sorry. The discussion is at 10 but I really need to be there earlier.” 

“You scared me. I thought you hated it.” Yunho uttered with his fingers running through his hair. “You should’ve told me if you’re going out. We can go together since my class is at 12.” He added as he reached to Yeosang again to button his shirt. 

“That’s fine. I can go on my own.  _ Oh _ ! I know! Let’s have dinner somewhere tonight.  _ My _ treat.” Yeosang suggested. 

“Alright, then. Text me when you’re done. I’ll wait for you. Or you wait for me. Whoever’s done first.” Yunho shrugged and helped Yeosang to get off the countertop. He mentally kicked himself for not noticing Yeosang’s padded jacket and backpack on the other side of the countertop. He walked the shorter to their front door after helping him putting on the mentioned jacket and watched in silence as Yeosang tied his shoelaces. “Can you walk?” 

“Of course, I can. I’ll see you later.” The blonde beamed and tiptoed to quickly peck Yunho on his squishy cheek. 

“Be careful.” The older reminded fondly as he looked on the younger walking past the door.

Yeosang’s figure that was almost disappearing behind the door suddenly reappeared in front of Yunho. He curiously raised his eyebrows at him, wondering if he forgets anything. 

“I love you.” Yeosang whispered bashfully and in a flash, he disappeared again behind the door leaving a dumbfounded Yunho. 

After a beat or two, Yunho’s mind then managed to process what his boyfriend had just said. He chuckled and scratched the side of his head thinking how Yeosang is definitely a person full of surprises. 

“I love you too, Kang Yeosang.” 

***

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how was it? had this in my notes since after i finished this story and i hope you like this one as much as i enjoyed writing it. i gave it a lot of thoughts if i should post this since i have another yunsang story that i left hanging. because i honestly just couldn’t find the time to finish it. so i might drop it and leave it there until i have the courage to delete it (or i may suddenly have the strength to finish it, who knows) 
> 
> but anyways, thank you for reading and hope you have a great valentine’s day with your loved ones. 
> 
> as much as kudos are appreciated, constructive comments are the most welcomed.
> 
> ALSOOOOOO ATEEZ COMEBACK!!!! GET THEM ALL THE WINS THEY DESERVE!!! and mingi i miss you and get well soon!!

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this because I need a little escape from this work from home stuffs and this movement control order. Hope everyone is staying home and don't forget to wash your hands. Apologies on typos/grammatical errors (English isn't my first language >_< and it's 2:52am now)
> 
> Also, something is wrong with my laptop, hence the weird formatting. 
> 
> Kudos are welcome and constructive comments are very appreciated. Thanks!


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